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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



EATING TO LIVE 



EATING TO LIVE 



WITH SOME ADVICE TO THE GOUTY, THE 
RHEUMATIC, AND THE DIABETIC 



A BOOK FOR EVERYBODY 

BY 

JOHN JANVIER BLACK, M.D. 

Member of the College of Physicians of Philadelphia ; Member of the Delaware State 
Medical Society ; Author of " Forty Years in the Medical Profession, '* " Culti- 
vation of the Peach, Pear, Quince, and Nut-Bearing Trees," etc. 

"Many people dig their grave t with their teeth" 




PHILADELPHIA AND LONDON 

J. B. LIPPINCOTT COMPANY 

1906 






/SSZ3 £> 




- 



Copyright, 1906 
By J. B. Lippincott Company 



Electrotyped and Printed by 
y. B. Lippincott Company, Philadelphia, U. S. A. 



PREFACE 

r 

As to eating and drinking, the majority of hu- 
man beings are much like sheep. Sheep have no 
idea of the points of the compass; they have not 
the least idea of taking care of themselves. They 
follow any leader, any bell-wether, either to safety 
or to death, without any proper instinct of self- 
preservation. If my readers should follow the 
advice given in this book, and are thereby saved 
from some of the many pitfalls open to those who 
eat and drink from instinct rather than from rea- 
soning, I shall be more than satisfied and more 
than gratified. 

JNO. J. BLACK. 

New Castle, Delaware, 1906. 



EATING TO LIVE 

r 

Man, speaking generically, is an omnivorous 
animal, and, being a free agent as to his omnivo- 
rousness, he is constantly sinning against the laws 
of nature in the selection and consumption of the 
food and drink necessary for his existence. If he 
be a savage, he sins less, not from choice, but 
from the necessity of his surroundings. If he 
be highly civilized, he is apt to sin more, sur- 
rounded as he usually is by the seductive luxuries 
of a higher civilization as applied to the art and 
science of cookery and gastronomy. The savage, 
the uncouth man, may very likely be a glutton. 
He may eat meat like a blood-hound, starch like 
an ox, and fat like an Eskimo. He can't be a 
gourmand. The polished, highly-educated man 
may be a glutton, yet he may be a gourmand. It 
only requires a strong, vigorous man with an un- 
controlled and uncontrollable appetite to be a glut- 
ton. A gourmand may be a polished gentleman; 
he must have a strong but controllable appetite and 
a good stomach ; his sense of taste must be delicate 
and cultivated; all of his senses must be highly 

7 



EATING TO LIVE 

developed ; he should have a sound mind in a sound 
body. The glutton is a sensualist purely; the 
gourmand has a marked spirituality combined with 
his sensualism, and both serve as illustrations 
worthy of marked study by the student of dietetics. 

It is a great mystery to me why the subject of 
diet holds such a subordinate position in the teach- 
ings of our medical colleges, when surely it is 
of equal if not greater importance than the giving 
of pills and potions. In the curriculum of our 
medical schools the subject of dietetics should hold 
a very prominent place, and such a chair should 
be established in all. 

The analysis of a man five feet eight inches in 

height and weighing one hundred and forty-eight 

pounds is, according to Moss, as follows : 

Oxygen 92.4 pounds. 

Hydrogen 14.6 " 

Carbon 31.6 " 

Nitrogen 4.6 " 

Phosphorus 1.4 " 

Calcium 2.8 " 

Sulphur 0.24 " 

Chlorine 0.12 " 

Sodium 0.12 " 

Iron 0.02 " 

Potassium 0.04 " 

Magnesium 0.04 " 

Silica 0.00 v " 

Fluorine 0.02 " 

Total. 148.00 " 

8 



EATING TO LIVE 

The chemical composition of the human body 
and of the foods we take are quite similar. About 
twenty elements are found chiefly, with a trace of 
others. Oxygen, hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, cal- 
cium, phosphorus, and sulphur are the chief. Sixty 
per cent, of our bodies is water, and probably a 
like percentage exists in our food. Mineral matter 
exists in our food and in our bodies to about 6 
per cent, of weight. 

The chief nutritive materials of food are pro- 
teids, fats, and carbohydrates. The albuminoids and 
gelatinoids are proteids. They largely help to 
form the tissues, bones, etc. They also furnish 
some fuel, and yield energy, and some parts of them 
form fat. The proteids are the real tissue-builders. 
They form the muscles, etc., and also give some 
fuel and furnish some energy. 

The extractives are also included in the proteids, 
because they contain nitrogen. They are the chief 
ingredients in beef-tea, etc. Dr. Atwater, a great 
authority, says they neither build tissue nor furnish 
energy. They are mere stimulants and appetizers. 

Fats we get from meat, fish, butter, and the 
vegetable oils. If we eat too much, we store in our 
bodies the surplus as fat. Sugars and starches also 
furnish fat. About 15 per cent, of our bodies, on 
an average, is fat. Excessive storage of fat is in 
many cases peculiar to the individual. This we 

9 



EATING TO LIVE 

frequently see. Dr. Atwater says we do not un- 
derstand exactly why food and exercise do not 
always control this tendency to fatness. The fats 
furnish concentrated fuel. 

The carbohydrates comprise a large part of our 
foods. They are chiefly the starches, the sugars, 
and the fibre of plants, cellulose, gum and dextrin. 
They produce the fuel for the body, and yield heat 
and power. Carbohydrates are also transformed in 
the body into fat, and hence are said to be 
" fattening. 

The food we take is burned in the body, and 
the oxygen from the air causes the combustion. 
From this combustion energy becomes active, and 
we get heat and power. The energy developed de- 
pends on the kind of food taken. Thus we are 
enabled to select a diet fit for the hard-worker and 
one fit for one who does little manual labor. The 
brain-worker may also require certain elements in 
his food. This is yet a matter of conjecture and 
of the peculiarities of the individual. Scientists 
have not yet worked out the proportions. 

Fuel Values. 

I take from Atwater's tables the following esti- 
mate of fuel values for the energy furnished to 
the body by about fifteen grains (about one gram) 
or one pound each of the classes of nutrients. 

10 



EATING TO LIVE 

Proteids. — Fuel value, 4 calories per gram, or 
1820 calories per pound. 

Fats. — Fuel value, 8.9 calories per gram, or 4040 
calories per pound. 

Carbohydrates. — Fuel value, 4 caiories per 
gram, or 1820 calories per pound. 

A calorie is a unit of heat, being the amount 
required to warm one gram of water one de- 
gree centigrade. The dynamical equivalent of 1 
calorie is 42,000,000 ergs. 

An erg is a unit of work, being the work done 
in pushing one gram of mass through one centi- 
metre of space against a force of one dyne. It is 
also a unit of energy, since energy is measured by 
work. 

Dyne. — A unit representing the force which, act- 
ing for one second on a mass of one gram, gives 
it a velocity of one centimetre per second. 

The functions and nutritive value of foods are 
learned by placing men and different animals in 
specially-constructed apartments, where they are 
kept for from three to twelve days. During this 
time analyses are made of all material which enters 
the body in the food and drink and of that which 
leaves it in the breath and excreta. A record is 
also kept of the energy given off as heat and mus- 
cular work. The difference between the energy of 

the food taken and that of the excreta, and the 

11 



EATING TO LIVE 

energy given off from the body as heat and muscu- 
lar work, is the balance of energy ; and if correctly 
estimated, should equal the energy of the body 
material gained or lost. The energy developed is 
like that developed by burning coal in a steam 
boiler. For further information on this subject, 
see Bulletin No. 142 United States Department of 
Agriculture, by Dr. Atwater, from which much of 
this matter has been taken. I append a table for 
general reference of the average composition of 
American food products, taken from this same 
bulletin. This table is of great value in the study 
of dietetics. 

FOOD AND FOOD ECONOMY. 

What has thus far been said about the ingredients 
of food and the ways they are used in the body 
may be briefly summarized in the following sche- 
matic manner : 



Nutritive ingredients (or nutrients) of food. 

f Water. 



Food as pur 
chased-; 
contains— 



Edible portion 

e. g. , flesh of meat, 
yolk and white of 
eggs, wheat flour, 
etc. 



Nutrients - 



Proteids. 

Fats. 

Carbohy- 
drates. 

Mineral 
matters. 



Refuse : 
e. g. bones, entrails, shells, bran, etc. 



12 



EATING TO LIVE 



Uses of nutrients in the body. 

Protcids Form tissue. . 

e.g., white (albumin} 

of eggs, curd (casein) 

of milk, lean meat, 

gluten of wheat, etc. 
Fats Are stored as 

e. g., fat of meat, but- fat 

ter, olive oil, oils of 

corn and wheat, etc. 
Carbohydrates Are trans- 

e. g., sugar, starch, formed into 

etc. fat 

Mineral matters (ash). . Share in forming bone, assist in 

e. g., phosphates of digestion, etc. 

lime, potash, soda, 

etc. 



All serve as fuel to 
yield energy in 
the forms of heat 
and muscular 
power. 



The views thus presented lead to the following 
definitions : ( i ) Food is that which, taken into the 
body, builds tissues or yields energy; (2) the most 
healthful food is that which is best fitted to the 
needs of the user; (3) the cheapest food is that 
which furnishes the largest amount of nutriment at 
the least cost; and (4) the best food is that which 
is both most healthful and cheapest. 

We have, then, to consider the kinds and 
amounts of nutrients in different food materials, 
their digestibility, the kinds and amounts needed 
for nourishment by persons under different condi- 
tions of rest and work, and the nutritive value of 
different food products as compared with their cost. 



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Chart I. — Composition of Food Materials. 
Nutritive ingredients, refuse, and fuel values. 



Digestible nutrients. 




Muscle 
rooking.. 



Fuel ingredients. 



Indigestible 
nutrients. 

E3 



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'atej. ltefuse 



NUTRIENT6. ETC., PERCENT. 



40 



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400 800 1200 1600 3000 8400 1800 8300 8000 4000 




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26 



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Chart II. — Pecuniary Economy of Food. 

Amounts of actually nutritive ingredients obtained in different 

food materials for 10 cents. 

[ Amounts of nutrients in pounds ; fuel value in calories.] 

Protein. Eats. Carbohydrates. Fuel Value. 




27 



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c/5 



31 



EATING TO LIVE 

According to Dr. Atwater, a man at hard muscu- 
lar work requires 1.2 the food of a man at moder- 
ately active muscular work. A man with light 
muscular work and a boy sixteen years old require 
0.9 the food of a man at moderately active muscu- 
lar work. A man at a sedentary occupation, a 
woman at moderately active work, a boy fourteen 
years old, and a girl sixteen years old, require 0.8 
the food of a man at moderately active muscular 
work. A woman at light work, a boy twelve years 
old, and a girl fourteen years old, require 0.7 the 
food of a man at moderately active muscular work. 
A boy eleven years old and a girl twelve years old 
require 0.6 the food of a man at moderately active 
muscular work. A child from six to nine years old 
requires 0.5 the food of a man at moderately active 
muscular work. A child from two to five years 
old requires 0.4 the food of a man at moderately 
active muscular work. A child under two years 
old requires 0.3 the food of a man at moderately 
active muscular work. 

Again quoting from Atwater, all persons must 
get from their food a proper amount of proteids 
for building and keeping in repair the bodily 
machine and fuel for warmth and work; but indi- 
viduals differ in the amounts they require, and 
even among those in good health many must avoid 
certain kinds of food. One man cannot eat fish, 

32 



EATING TO LIVE 

another cannot eat mutton, another cannot eat 
eggs, and so on; while some have weak digestion, 
naturally or acquired, and these must have special 
diets. These are cases for the physician to study 
and set right. The point is to get what agrees 
with these people, and yet get a diet that will 
afford the proper amount of nourishment. Here 
the dyspeptic needs proper advice and guiding. 

If we take more food than is needed, or im- 
proper food, we overtax the digestive organs; in- 
jury follows and energy is wasted. If a man is 
a glutton, in the end he must suffer. Usually we 
eat three meals in twenty-four hours. Custom has 
much to do with this. Every one should regulate 
this matter according to his needs and habits. It is 
never well to eat to repletion at any one meal. Do 
not confine yourself to a one-sided diet. Poverty 
may make such a course somewhat necessary, as 
instanced by the bread-and-tea diet of many poor 
women especially. On the other hand, do not live 
on meat alone, or vegetables alone. A properly 
proportioned and properly mixed diet is the diet 
of election for man. Of course special diets are for 
special cases. The question of diet should be more 
studied by all. Eating and drinking, especially 
among the idle and well-to-do, is made an amuse- 
ment in many cases. They eat for social enjoy- 
ment and merely to pass away time. This is in 
3 33 



EATING TO LIVE 

evidence in travelling and in city life. Take a 
Pullman buffet car for a journey. People are 
constantly eating and drinking here, and at the 
regular meal-time pass into the dining car for the 
three regular meals, and thus keep up the constant 
tickling of their gustatory senses. In city life we 
see the same tampering with our digestive ma- 
chinery. Among those holding the ordinary posi- 
tions of business life we behold the horrors of the 
quick lunch, where all the laws of health as to 
digestion are violated. To those better equipped 
with this world's goods we see errors of diet in 
the rich heavy lunch, often with spirits, wine, or 
beer. Women are great sinners at this mid-day 
lunch. The horrors of the sweets and the ices, and 
such, only their stomachs and often their general 
wretchedness can reveal. The full late dinner and 
the heavy supper after the opera complete the 
gastronomic dissipation. Few can withstand this 
round of eating and drinking and live beyond fifty 
years of age. We are getting to know better. 
Caterers are learning more how to serve people. 
Dinners, luncheons, and such are lighter and 
served more in accordance with proper rules gov- 
erning health than they formerly were; but even 
as this care in serving increases, people must learn 
and grow more cautious in eating and drinking, 
and thus preserve their own health, the stability 

34 



EATING TO LIVE 

of the coming man, and the general good of the 
entire human race. 

The Economics of Food. 

The purveyor for the household should study 
well the prices paid for foods. In the average 
family this is important to the comfort of living; 
for many expenses are necessary beyond the buy- 
ing of food. Study by the tables the cost of meats, 
for instance. Equal nourishment may come from 
cheaper parts of the animal as from the more 
costly parts. Study the properly-balanced ration. 
If meats are high in price the proteid requirements 
can be gotten in a great measure from bread, peas, 
beans, and such vegetable ingredients. Many ex- 
pensive things afford little real nourishment. A 
poor family does not need cauliflower, lettuce, nor 
brussels sprouts, for instance. Let them get their 
flavor from cabbage and the cheaper watery vege- 
tables. I merely suggest these matters to cause the 
good housewife to think and study over them. 
Turkey, game, terrapin, and such luxuries may 
please the taste, but are neither necessary nor 
always advisable. A well-balanced ration can be 
obtained from much cheaper materials; and if 
properly selected and prepared can be made almost 
equally toothsome. 



35 



EATING TO LIVE 

Cooking of Foods. 

Cooking is a polite art. So is music, so are 
painting, architecture and drawing. The French 
excel in the art of cooking, and Paris is the Mecca 
of the bon vivant. A refined little dinner for six, 
served as the Parisian knows how to serve it, is 
a revelation, and is sure to bring out the better 
points of those who participate. Probably you will 
be served with several raw oysters, and following 
them a glass of white Burgundy. This gives a 
little zest for the soup. A few tablespoonfuls of 
this are followed by a glass of sound sherry, Now 
will come the fish, with a sauce such as only a well- 
educated chef knows how to concoct. A glass of 
white wine will help the flavor of the fish. Now 
will come the meat. As a gustatory morsel nothing 
will complete the triumph more thoroughly than 
a truffled fowl. Champagne of a proper vintage 
may accompany it, and both wit and wisdom will 
come forth with moderate indulgence. One or two 
well-selected tender vegetables will add enjoyment 
to the course. Now a dainty salad with a modi- 
cum of ripe cheese will be a nice addition. A 
sweet and a demi-tasse will complete the satisfying 
and artistic sitting. 

This is only a pleasant diversion. Now let us 
return to cooking as an art. Soups are the result 

36 



EATING TO LIVE 

of boiling different meats, fish, milk, and vege- 
tables. The good housewife keeps her stock-kettle 
always active, and here has a basis for many of the 
best-flavored and nutritious soups. Meats are 
roasted, baked, fried, broiled, boiled, and stewed. 
Roasting, as a rule, should be done with a quick, 
sharp heat, so the outside.sur face will quickly harden 
and retain the nutritious juices. Baking and fry- 
ing should also be done under like conditions, and 
so should broiling. In boiling meats they should 
not be plunged at once into hot water. The re- 
sult will be to toughen the fibres. Put the meat 
into cold water, over a sharp fire, and then boil 
it rapidly. Stewing of meats should be done 
slowly, to bring out and retain the flavors of the 
meats and vegetables of the combination. Fish, 
Sir Henry Thompson says, as a rule, should be 
baked. This will depend a great deal on the variety 
of the fish. Many fish in baking will become 
tough and hard. A perch or a smelt or a fresh- 
water bass should be fried. A rock, more properly 
called a striped bass, or a salmon, or a cod, should 
be boiled to bring out the flavor, assisted, when 
served, by a proper sauce. To my own taste the 
best boiled fish is the ohad. Retain the roe or the 
milt. The milt shad is to be preferred. We get 
here its highest flavor and a dish for the gods. 
Broiling the shad is the most popular way of cook- 

37 



EATING TO LIVE 

ing it, but for a piece de resistance, outside of boil- 
ing, give us a planked shad, fresh from the water. 
Fry it never. The most indigestible of foods are 
probably fried foods. They are loaded, as a rule, 
with too much fat, both from themselves and from 
the vehicle used in frying. Vegetables are boiled, 
baked, fried, stewed, etc. Many of those contain- 
ing much water are better baked, — as the potato, 
for example. 

The foregoing statements are merely given as 
examples and a further discussion of methods will 
be out of place in a work of this character. As 
Dr. Atwater suggests, the cooking of food has 
much to do with its nutritive value. Many raw 
things must be cooked in some way to bring out 
their nutritive value. Bad cooking is an abomina- 
tion and the cause of much suffering. 

There are three chief purposes in cooking, — 

First, to change the mechanical condition so the 
digestive juices can act more freely on the mass. 

Second, to make it more acceptable to the palate 
and stimulate the flow of the digestive fluids. 

Third, to kill by heat pathogenic germs and para- 
sites often present in uncooked food-stuffs. The 
typhoid bacillus, the trichina, and the tapeworm 
are examples. 

In cooking starchy vegetables the heat ruptures 
the cell walls and makes the food more palatable. 

38 



EATING TO LIVE 

The caramel produced also adds to the flavor. In 
baking bread, cakes, etc., the aim accomplished is 
to make them lighter and more palatable. This 
is also aided by yeast and baking-powders. In 
cake-baking the same effect is produced by adding 
white of eggs, beaten light, to the mass. Raw 
vegetables are more dangerous to eat than well- 
cooked vegetables. The same is true of oysters 
and clams, more especially of oysters. Salt oysters, 
as a rule, are not dangerous. We get few salt 
oysters in our markets. The trick of the trade is 
to bloat them in fresh water to make them measure 
up and look plump. Here is the danger, — the fresh 
water used may be contaminated. This bloating 
of oysters should be stopped by law in the interest 
of the public health. 

Food too far gone, or kept too long, is liable 
to ferment, and the deadly ptomaines develop, and 
the heat of cooking does not even destroy their 
activity. Thus we get cheese poisoning, ice- 
cream poisoning, fish poisoning, meat poisoning, 
etc. Often interesting and startling individual 
peculiarities are developed. I have known more 
than one person who never could eat even the 
freshest fish without suffering from a species of 
ptomaine poisoning. Again, on some, mutton, 
eggs, and other unlooked-for food-stuffs have a 
poisoning effect. Daintiness in serving and cleanli- 

39 



EATING TO LIVE 

ness in preparing foods are absolutely essential to 
comfortable and safe living. 

The chemistry of cooking is most interesting and 
important, but rather foreign to my purpose, and 
would take up too much space in this work. The 
reader is referred to books which take up this sub- 
ject. One by W. Matthieu Williams, " The Chem- 
istry of Cooking," is among the best. 

Digestion. 

In a little book of this character I think it im- 
portant that those persons who may read it should 
have some idea of the processes of digestion in hu- 
man beings, and for this reason I propose to give 
a short space for a resume of the subject. 

The process of digestion is both physical and 
chemical. The food passes into the alimentary 
canal, where it is liquefied and its nutritive prin- 
ciples are changed by the digestive fluids into new 
substances, which are in proper form to be ab- 
sorbed by the blood. The digestive system in- 
cludes the alimentary canal and appendages, — viz., 
the teeth, the salivary glands, the gastric glands, 
the intestinal glands, the liver, and the pancreas. 
There are seven stages of digestion, — -prehension, 
mastication, insalivation, deglutition, gastric diges- 
tion, intestinal digestion, and defecation. The 
hands, lips, and teeth together are involved in pre- 

40 



EATING TO LIVE 

hension. Mastication triturates the food, and this 
act is brought about by the teeth — in the upper 
and lower jaws, the lower jaw moving and the 
upper jaw stationary — and the muscles. Mastica- 
tion should be thorough and is a most important 
part of digestion. In the adult there are thirty- 
two teeth, sixteen in each jaw, — viz., four incisors, 
two canines, four bicuspids, and six molars, or 
grinders. The lower jaw makes a downward, an 
upward, a lateral, and an anteroposterior move- 
ment. 

Insalivation comes next. The saliva is secreted 
by the submaxillary, parotid, and sublingual 
glands. The parotid saliva is thin and watery. 
The submaxillary and sublingual saliva is viscid. 
The saliva moistens and agglutinates the food 
and helps the swallowing of it. The ptyalin of 
the saliva converts starch into sugar and dextrin 
is formed. This completes the first stage of 
digestion. 

Deglutition comes next and carries the food 
from the mouth to the stomach. The bolus of 
food passes from the mouth into the pharynx, from 
the pharynx into the oesophagus, and from the 
oesophagus into the stomach. 

The Stomach. — The oesophagus terminates in 
the stomach, which has two orifices, the cardiac, or 
upper, and the pyloric, or lower. The stomach has 

41 



EATING TO LIVE 

three coats, — the serous, the muscular, and the mu- 
cous. While the food is in the stomach the gastric 
juice acts on it. The stomach now churns it up 
and gradually liquefies it, and thus fits it for passing 
on to the small intestines and for absorption into 
the blood. 

Composition of Gastric Juice. 

Water 994404 

Hydrochloric acid 0.200 

Organic matter 3-195 

Inorganic salts 2.201 

1000.000 

The water holds the other ingredients in solu- 
tion. The hydrochloric acid acidulates the food 
and prevents fermentation. Its absence or lessen- 
ing or excess causes troubles of one kind or an- 
other. Pepsin is part of the organic matter of the 
juice. It is called a hydrolytic ferment or enzyme. 
The pepsin transforms the acidulated proteids, such 
as exist in meats, eggs, and similar foods, into new 
forms that can be absorbed into the blood. 

Rennin is another organic matter in the juice. 
It has the power of coagulating the casein of milk. 
Stomach digestion is a complex process, involving 
many glands, cells, etc. The chief action of the 
gastric juice is to transform the proteids into pep- 
tones. They are the final product of the digestion 
of proteids, — that is, meats and such. It takes the 

42 



EATING TO LIVE 

stomach from three to five hours to digest an 
average meal. Much depends on the composition 
of the food taken. As the food is digested in the 
stomach it passes into the intestines through the 
pylorus. 

Whipped eggs, raw, should digest in one hour 
and twenty minutes; soft-boiled in three hours; 
hard-boiled in three hours and a half; barley soup 
in one hour and a half; bean soup in three hours; 
chicken soup in three hours ; mutton soup in three 
hours and a half; raw oysters in three hours; 
stewed oysters take a half hour longer; broiled 
lamb chops in two hours and a half; veal chops 
in four hours ; roast pork, over five hours ; broiled 
beefsteak in three hours; roast turkey in two 
hours and twenty-five minutes; chicken, boiled, 
in four hours, and stewed in two hours and three- 
quarters ; roast duck in four hours ; beef liver in 
two hours; fried sausage in three hours and a 
quarter. 

There is much difference in the time of digesting 
the various vegetables. It takes boiled cabbage 
four hours and a half; boiled turnips three hours 
and a half; boiled parsnips two hours and a half; 
boiled beets three hours and three-quarters ; boiled 
beans two hours and a half; boiled green corn 
three hours and three-quarters; roasted potatoes 
(white) two hours and a half; boiled white pota- 

43 



EATING TO LIVE 

toes three hours and a half. This shows baking to 
be the proper method of cooking white potatoes. 

Digestion in the Intestines. 
Here again is a complex process. It is accom- 
plished by the action of the pancreatic juice, the 
bile, and the intestinal juice. At the end of stom- 
ach digestion we have the chyme as a result. 
Chyme consists of water, inorganic salts, peptones, 
undigested albumins and starches, maltose, a kind 
of sugar produced by the action of diastase on 
starch (diastase is a nitrogenous principle devel- 
oped in grain during germination), cane sugar, 
liquefied fats, cellulose, and the undigestible por- 
tions of meats, fruits, cereals, etc. The chyme is 
now acid. When it passes through the pylorus into 
the intestines it meets the alkaline intestinal juices 
and becomes alkaline. This arrests gastric diges- 
tion, and intestinal digestion begins. The intes- 
tines are about twenty-two feet long and, like the 
stomach, have three coats, the serous, the muscular, 
and the mucous. We do not know thoroughly the 
function of the intestinal juices. They convert 
starch into dextrose, but probably are unable to 
digest either albumin or fats. They invert, as it 
were, cane sugar, maltose, and lactose into dex- 
trose, which prepares them for their absorption. 
This intestinal ferment is called invertin. 

44 



EATING TO LIVE 

The pancreas secretes the pancreatic juice. Its 
duct opens into the duodenum. Pancreatic juice is 
colorless, alkaline, and viscid. It is one of the 
most important of the digestive fluids. It contains, 
water, 900.76; albuminoid substances, 90.44; in- 
organic salts, 8.80. Acting on starch, it changes 
it to maltose. Amylopsin is the ferment causing 
this change. The proteid bodies which escape 
stomach digestion are converted by the pancreatic 
juice into peptones. The proteids are changed into 
alkali albumin. Now another ferment, trypsin, 
changes the alkali albumin into peptone, of which, 
as in gastric peptones, there are two forms, hemi- 
peptone and antipeptone. After this we get 
leucin, tyrosin, etc. The action of the pancreatic 
juice on fats is most important, — it emulsifies fats. 
The neutral fats are decomposed into their corre- 
sponding fatty acids and glycerin. The acids thus 
set free unite with the alkaline bases in the in- 
testines and form soap. Soap is a fat acid united 
with any alkaline base. Steapsin is the ferment 
causing the decomposition of the neutral fats. 

Bile is a most important digestive fluid. It is 
familiar to all as to its greenish-brown color, its 
bitter taste, and its viscidity. It contains, water, 
859.2; sodium glycocholate and sodium taurocho- 
late, 91.4; fat, 9.2; cholesterin, 2.6; mucus and 
coloring matter, 29.8; salts, 7.8. The cholesterin 

45 



EATING TO LIVE 

is a waste product. When retained in the blood 
it causes various disorders, — gall-stones, nervous 
troubles, etc. It passes off in the faeces as stercorin. 
The coloring matters of the bile are biliverdin and 
bilirubin. The amount of bile secreted in twenty- 
four hours by a healthy adult is about two and 
one-half pounds. It is both a secretion and an 
excretion. It is forming constantly and passes 
from the liver into the gall-bladder by the hepatic 
ducts, where it is stored until needed in digestion. 
When the food enters the intestines its presence 
causes the walls of the gall-bladder to contract and 
expel the stored bile. The bile helps to emulsify 
the fats, prevents putrefaction of the food, and 
excites peristalsis of the bowels by stimulating the 
intestinal glands to secretion. While the digesting 
food is passing through the intestinal canal the 
nutritive products, the peptones, the dextrose, the 
levulose, the fatty emulsions, the fatty acids, and 
their soaps, are absorbed into the blood, whilst the 
undigested matters are carried on into the large 
intestines through the ileocecal valve by peristaltic 
movements. 

If we eat too much or take improper diet, the 
food decomposes, and various gases and chemic 
compounds are developed and much discomfort re- 
sults. Indol is formed by chemical action, and from 
it indican appears in the urine. 

46 



/ 



EATING TO LIVE 

The large intestine is about five feet long and 
has three coats, like the stomach and small intes- 
tines. The ascending portion has the power of 
absorption, and therefore rectal alimentation is 
possible by enemata. Here the products of diges- 
tion lose their water and become more solid. These 
are fecal matters, consisting of undigested food, 
products of decomposition, mucus, and inorganic 
salts. Defecation is the getting rid of these effete 
matters by muscular action. 

Absorption. — By absorption we transfer mate- 
rial into the blood from the tissues, the serous cavi- 
ties, and the mucous surfaces. The mechanism 
employed is, first, the lymph spaces, the lymph 
capillaries, and the blood capillaries; second, the 
lymphatic vessels and larger blood-vessels. The 
lymphatic vessels take their origin in the lymph 
capillaries. These lymph capillaries are interwoven 
with the blood-vessels. They are valveless. They 
anastomose freely with one another and commu- 
nicate with the lymph spaces and the lymphatic 
vessels. They collect the lymph which may have 
escaped from the blood-vessels and transmit it to 
the regular lymphatic vessels. The blood capil- 
laries are also active in absorption and also allow 
the escape through their delicate walls of liquid 
nutritive portions of the blood. They are prob- 
ably more active than the lymph capillaries in ab- 

47 



EATING TO LIVE 

sorbing the products of digestion. The lymphatic 
vessels pass through the lymphatic glands. In the 
small intestines they are called lacteals. They are 
guarded by semilunar valves opening towards the 
larger vessels. The lymphatic glands complete the 
lymphatic system. In them are lymph channels. 
Through these channels the lymph is poured by the 
lymphatic vessels and is transmitted onward. Chyle 
is the product of intestinal digestion, found in the 
. lacteals and thoracic duct as a milky-looking fluid 
containing corpuscles, fat globules, fibrin etc. 

The agents most active in absorption are the 
blood-vessels of the digestive canal, particularly 
those going to form the great portal vein. Again 
the lymphatics coming from the small intestines 
converge to empty into the thoracic duct. The 
products of digestion get into the general circula- 
tion by two routes. First, the water, peptones, glu- 
cose, and salts, after passing into the lymph spaces 
of the villi, pass through the walls of the capillary 
blood-vessels, then into the blood, and are carried to 
the liver by the vessels forming the portal vein. 
Coming out of the liver, they pass to the vena 
cava by the hepatic vein. The fat emulsion enters 
the lymph capillary, and it contracts and forces the 
contents into the lacteals, and then into the thoracic 
duct, and finally into the circulation at the junction 
of the internal jugular and subclavian veins on the 

48 



EATING TO LIVE 

left side. Lymph is absorbed into the system for 
its many uses. When in excess, it is reabsorbed 
and reused. 

Lymph is the fluid of the lymphatics. It is alka- 
line and much like blood in its chemical composi- 
tion. It contains leucocytes and fatty matter. It 
contains, water, 95.536; proteids, 1.320; extract- 
ives, 1.559; fatty matters, a trace; salts, 0.585. 

Chyle, as before shown, is the product of in- 
testinal digestion. It is found in the lacteals and 
thoracic duct as a milky-looking fluid containing 
corpuscles, fat globules, fibrin, proteids, and salts. 
It contains, water, 902.37; albumin, 35.16; fibrin, 
3.70; extractives, 15.65; fatty matters, 36.01; 
salts, 7.1 1. 

Blood consists of two portions, the liquor san- 
guinis, or plasma, and the corpuscles, white and 
red. Haemoglobin is the coloring matter, and is 
composed of C, O, H, N, S, and iron. The function 
of the red corpuscles is to absorb oxygen and carry 
it to the tissues. The red corpuscles far outnumber 
the white corpuscles. The white corpuscles are 
termed amoeboid, because they have the power of 
movement and of changing their shape. They can 
move from place to place and adhere to the surface 
of the vessels, whilst the red corpuscles rush 
through the centre of the stream. The white cor- 
puscles are identical with leucocytes and are found 
4 49 



EATING TO LIVE 

in milk, lymph, chyle, and other fluids. The white 
corpuscles are of the greatest importance in the 
economy. They are the body scavengers, as they 
prey upon and destroy pathogenic and other germs 
and tend greatly to make life possible. In giving 
this resume of digestion I acknowledge the help I 
have obtained from Prof. Brubaker's " Compend 
of Physiology." 

Why don't the Stomach Digest Itself f 

For a long time the supposed best answer to this 
question was that the vital resistance of the stomach 
prevented it digesting itself. This theory has been 
disproved by the fact that the extremities of various 
reptiles and animals have been introduced into the 
stomachs of living animals and there acted on by 
the digestive fluids. Why does the tapeworm, for 
example, live and thrive in man ? An answer may 
be that this is its natural environment. Prof. Wein- 
land has shown that this resistance in the tapeworm 
is caused by certain of what he calls antibodies, 
analogous to antilysins and antitoxins. He iso- 
lated from the tapeworm an antitrypsin or anti- 
ferment, which when added to a mixture of fibrin 
and pancreatic juice prevented the digestion of the 
tapeworm. He also showed the presence of an 
antipepsin in the secreting cells of the stomach and 
of an antitrypsin in the cells of the intestines. 

50 



EATING TO LIVE 

These antiferments neutralize the action of the 

digestive ferments and prevent their destructive 

action on the tissues of the stomach and intestines. 

This action, Weinland claims, solves the problem, 

and is the reason why the stomach does not digest 

itself. 

General Remarks on Diet. 

At the present day physicians, and laymen, too, 
are coming more and more to appreciate the im- 
portance of what we eat and drink, whether sick or 
well. When I entered the profession, more than 
forty-two years ago, little was said about it and 
less was taught concerning it in the medical schools. 
All, or nearly all, at that time, empirically believed 
in the antiphlogistic system of treatment, and 
almost every sick man, or wounded man, or crazy 
man, for that matter, was put upon a diet of as 
near bread and water as possible, and because 
women were fortunate enough to have babies, 
they were generally starved for about six weeks, 
much to their own injury and the inconvenience 
of the luckless offspring. Why were they starved ? 
Oh, to prevent inflammation. What was inflam- 
mation? Too much blood. Thanks to Prof. W. 
Gilman Thompson, von Liebig, Sir Henry Thomp- 
son, Dr. Atwater, H. C. Wood, and others, the 
matter of diet has advanced from mere empiricism, 
from the mere didactic, thoughtless, even ignorant, 

Si 



EATING TO LIVE 

assertions of the school men, to something ap- 
proaching an exact science, and, like general thera- 
peutics, is no longer a mere assertion or pill-giving 
calling, but a well-studied, scientific profession. In 
saying this I do not mean to say that it yet receives 
the attention it deserves in the curriculum of our 
medical schools, — far from it; but great progress 
is being made, and sooner or later, in the near 
future, it is bound to receive the attention so im- 
portant a branch of medical teaching deserves. 

When we order a course of diet for a person, 
sick or well, we should think in carbon and hy- 
drogen, oxygen and nitrogen. Given a person 
with contracted kidneys, and hypertrophy of the 
left ventricle of the heart, and with other ills per- 
chance following in the wake of these, of what use 
is medicine, of what use are pills and powders and 
potions, if we allow such a person to stuff himself 
with an excess of nitrogenous food? There are 
cases of commencing or confirmed hardening of the 
arteries from which arise aneurysms, apoplectic 
seizures, and so on. How useless are medicines 
in these cases if the eating and drinking of the 
person be not supervised and rigidly controlled ! In 
such cases, if I must abandon one course of treat- 
ment and keep only to the other, give me diet. 

" Throw physic to the dogs." 

Another practical point is, study the individual. 

52 



EATING TO LIVE 

What may be proper for a well man may kill a sick 
man. Some individuals can live on milk alone, for 
a time, when they try it; with others it is im- 
possible. As said before, many a man can eat 
mutton and grow fat on it ; so may he eat eggs and 
thrive. To others again these are poisons. Such 
are mere idiosyncrasies, and it is important to heed 
them. I believe the principles of diet and nutri- 
tion, the effects of alcohol and tobacco and such, 
should be taught to some extent in our general 
schools, not fanatically, but reasonably. Some 
general knowledge on this score would add much 
to the general health of a people and be of assist- 
ance to physicians in treating the average man. 
There is a diet for the young, for the man of middle 
age, and for the aged person. We commence with 
milk, the complete food, the balanced ration. We 
go on through all the luxuries of a lifetime, and as 
we approach toothless old age we come back again 
to childhood and to childhood's ration — milk ; and 
in extreme old age the nearer we adhere to the 
simple bread-and-milk diet the better and happier 
we are and the longer and more satisfactorily we 
live. My observation and experience lead me to 
believe, as intelligent persons grow to middle age 
and beyond, they, as a rule, become careful as to 
diet. Indeed, many become cranky or full-fledged 
cranks, especially the idle and well-to-do. This is 

53 



EATING TO LIVE 

all right so they do not approach melancholia. 
These people are the ones who often take, and who 
often benefit by, the course at Carlsbad or such 
resorts. 

I once knew of an ardent temperance woman 
who took her son, a boy of seventeen years, to 
Carlsbad, thinking the course there might relieve 
him of some dyspeptic trouble, too many sweets in 
his diet, probably. She called with John at the 
office of a prominent consultant, who was very 
affable and very painstaking, asking many ques- 
tions, finally coming to diet. " Veil, Shon, vhat do 
you drink ?" " Drink ?" said John. " Yes, vhat do 
you drink?" "Water, of course," answered the 
mother. " Nothing stronger, I assure you." 
" Wasser, wasser!" said the doctor, in wild amaze- 
ment. " Mein Gott ! it vill kill him, madame; it vill 
kill him." It is safe to say madame did not take the 
doctor's advice as to John's beverages, and left 
Carlsbad with a poor opinion of its doctors. 

Diet is surely one of the great factors in ra- 
tional living. Take Bright's disease of the kid- 
neys. What a factor is eating and drinking as to 
its cause! Statistics taken in Chicago as an ex- 
ample show that nearly six per cent, of its male 
population in early manhood suffer from some form 
of Bright's disease of the kidneys. In applications 
for membership to the city fire department 5.9 per 

54 



EATING TO LIVE 

cent, were rejected for this cause. A great cause of 
such troubles is exposure to wet and damp after 
drinking bouts. Another great cause is overin- 
dulgence in malt liquors. Soda-fountain mixtures, 
made up as they too often are of vile compounds 
in so-called syrups, are very trying to the kidneys. 
Overindulgence at table is a prolific cause. Too 
much nitrogenous food and too much pastry and 
sweets are obnoxious to the renal tissues. Too 
much food, or overeating in general, is very bad. 

There is, no doubt, much suffering in every way 
from improper diet, and bad cooking is responsible 
for many ills and doubtless many deaths. A little 
observation of the inner life of the poor will cause 
one to realize in a high degree the utter discomfort 
and utter misery, even unto death, which come to 
those untutored and unskilled in providing, in 
choosing, and in preparing properly for the table 
even the simplest of foods. Education, supervision, 
the evolution to a higher plane of living for these 
people, is the only corrective for such pitiable igno- 
rance and carelessness. These people need super- 
vision, they need instruction. The principles of 
cooking and choosing of food, practically taught in 
the schools, would help out in this work. Call it pa- 
ternalism if you choose, but as we grow wiser in 
government such matters must come up and be 
taken up before we reach the highest civilization. 

55 



EATING TO LIVE 

Thompson divides foods into solids, semi- 
solids, and liquids. Next, into fibrous, gelatinous, 
starchy, oleaginous, and albuminous. He speaks 
of eggs and milk as examples of complete foods 
which alone will support life; others, again, as 
starches, will not alone — absolutely alone — support 
life for a length of time. The sources of food are 
animal foods and vegetable foods. Animal foods 
are meats, poultry, fish, shell-fish, crustaceans, 
eggs, milk and its products, animal fats, and gelatin. 
Vegetable foods are the cereals, vegetables proper, 
fruits, sugars, and vegetable oils. Liebig's is the 
simplest chemical classification, the nitrogenous and 
the non-nitrogenous. The nitrogenous group are 
the tissue-builders or flesh-formers, as before 
stated. The non-nitrogenous group furnish the 
body with the fuel and keep up the animal heat, 
and are the force producers. The tissue-builders 
also produce some force and heat. There is some 
tissue-building matter in the vegetables, but not a 
very great deal. The outside coverings of the 
starch granules, for example, contain some nitro- 
gen. Nitrogenous foods are also not absolutely 
nitrogenous, as they contain some fat and glycogen. 
Take rice as an example of tissue-building power 
in the vegetable. The Japanese people live largely 
on rice. Their prowess, as exhibited in the ter- 
rible war between them and the great Russian 

56 



EATING TO LIVE 

empire, shows well their great qualities as sol- 
diers. The secret is probably here. They do not 
clean their rice as do the western nations. Much 
of the hull and such parts are left with the grain, 
and in these parts of the food, as eaten by them, 
is much nitrogenous matter — much tissue-building 
material — and hence the effective work those who 
eat it do. The same may be said of flour made from 
wheat and other grains. The white flour is de- 
prived of some tissue-building material by bolt- 
ing. This will be referred to again when speaking 
of bread as food. 

The uses of food are to furnish the body with 
materials for growth and renewal, as before stated, 
and with power, much as fuel does for the steam- 
engine. The consumption of the fuel furnishes the 
power. The starches and sugars furnish much of 
the power to man. The original force is the heat 
of the sun ; this is stored by the plants in the latent 
form of chemical compounds. The main source 
of power is oxidation, chiefly of carbon. Wherever 
it goes, or any waste product goes, it is not de- 
stroyed, it only changes its form; you cannot 
destroy matter. Take urea; it is merely matter 
of our food in a changed form, something like 
ashes from coal. This urea or other debris, if not 
removed from the body, blocks the system and pre- 
vents normal processes of oxidation, which must 

57 



M^ 



<Y 



EATING TO LIVE 



go on properly to give one good health. It is diffi- 
cult to trace the final use of all foods in the body 
and tell how much goes to furnish power and how 
much to furnish heat, for tissue metabolism in its 
chemistry is complex. Egleston allows, of nutri- 
tive material for a healthy man for twenty-four 
hours, seven hundred grams in all, — four hundred 
grams of carbohydrates, one hundred and fifty 
grams of fats, and one hundred and fifty grams of 
proteids, these yielding three thousand six hundred 
and fifty calories or units of heat. 

Water is to be looked upon as food, composing 
as it does 70 per cent, of the weight of our bodies, 
and much of it passes through the body unchanged. 
Withhold it, and life is impossible. As a remedy 
I am sure it is not half appreciated. Many per- 
sons do not drink water enough, and suffer accord- 
ingly, whether sick or well. Others, again, may 
take too much ; and it is the duty of the physician 
to study each case and set his patient right on so 
important a matter. Of course much of the water 
we take goes in as part of our food, and this 50 
to 60 per cent, of water in our solid foods must 
be taken into account. The salts, such as lime and 
magnesia, abound in the body, and they, with 
many others, have their uses in tissue-formation. 
Here the question of using distilled water comes 
in. By distilling water it is deprived of its salts 

58 



EATING TO LIVE 

and organic matters and is purified as to patho- 
genic and other germs. Some of the German au- 
thorities claim that by depriving water of its salts, 
which distillation does, we deprive it of those 
matters which afford proper nourishment to the 
protoplasm of the organic cell, and thus do harm 
to the economy. In proof of this it is stated 
that the German government has found that the 
use exclusively of distilled water on the vessels of 
the German navy has worked harm, and, to pre- 
vent this harm, has issued orders to add certain or- 
ganic salts to the sailors' drinking-water to make 
up for their loss by distillation. On the other hand, 
it is argued that the use of distilled water is proper 
and healthful. As to the loss of the salts in the 
water by distillation, this is not a serious matter, 
as all of these salts are furnished in abundance in 
the solid foods we take. The hard water, the 
water that has not been distilled, furnishes too 
many of the salts which produce gout, the harden- 
ing of the arteries, etc., and thus old age is has- 
tened, for hardened arteries are a natural condition 
in old age. By distilling water we destroy patho- 
genic and other germs, as has been before noted, 
and we thus avoid such diseases as typhoid fever, 
dysentery, cholera, etc. Boiling thirty minutes will 
also destroy most of these germs. Distilled water 
has high solvent power, and the use of it tends to 

59 



EATING TO LIVE 

warm and dilute the blood as we grow older, and 
to get rid of the salts which are liable to deposit in 
the tissues and do harm. These are the arguments 
used in the claim that distilled water tends to ward 
off the approach of old age and its infirmities, and 
they seem to be well taken. 

Thompson, quoting from Von Pettenkofer and 
Voit, shows that during the performance of hard 
labor the consumption of albumin remains prac- 
tically the same as during rest, whereas three and 
one-half times as much fat is consumed, and the 
amount of carbohydrates is the same. Hence, for 
hard laborers give plenty of fat pork, butter, oil, 
and such. A workingman will take from fifty to 
seventy-five ounces of solid food in twenty-four 
hours, and about the same amount of water by 
weight. The ration should contain one part of 
nitrogenous food to three and one-half parts of 
non-nitrogenous food. The average albuminous 
food gives about 16 per cent, of nitrogen. For a 
man weighing sixty-seven kilograms the daily 
allowance of food ranges from six to nine grains 
of carbon and .25 to .36 grain of nitrogen per 
kilogram of body weight. A kilogram is two 
pounds, three ounces, four and three-eighths drams 
avoirdupois. 

Cow's milk and wheat flour approach nearest to a 
balanced ration of all foods as to their nitrogenous 

60 



EATING TO LIVE 

and non-nitrogenous proportions. In cows' milk the 
proportion is one to three, and in wheat flour one 
to four and one-half. The destruction of the car- 
bohydrates in the body is very complete when eaten 
in excess, and they do not produce fat like fatty 
foods taken in excess. This is an important prac- 
tical point. The carbohydrates are more or iess 
fattening when eaten with albumin and fats, be- 
cause they check the consumption of albumin and 
fats and leave more of them to be converted into 
tissue fats. Eaten alone they are not so fattening. 
The Chinaman, for example, living mostly on rice, 
is not usually over- fat. Another practical point: 
When you have children growing rapidly and 
using their force in the ceaseless activity of the 
young, see that they get sufficient proteids in their 
daily ration. 

Thus we see the food value of articles of diet 
is of the utmost importance, whether we wish to 
make up a ration for the soldier, the laborer, the 
professional man, or women or children. Of albu- 
minous matter used as food one-third is excreted 
as urea. Probably most persons over thirty-five 
years of age eat too much nitrogenous food, espe- 
cially those who inherit gout. These gouty, bilious 
people are usually the strong and healthy, and, 
as a rule, have ravenous appetites ; they live to eat 

rather than eat to live. They often incline to be 

61 



EATING TO LIVE 

good drinkers of wines, spirits, and malt liquors; 
but, as a rule, much to their disadvantage, are 
light water-drinkers. If they drank more water 
the ill effects of a vicious metabolism, of vicious 
tissue change in nutrition and secretion, would be 
carried out of the system more generally in the 
various secretions and excretions. 

It is surprising to see how one who has been 
a free meat-eater can come down to almost a non- 
' nitrogenous diet and enjoy life and feel lighter and 
better and more contented in every way, provided 
the excess of nitrogen he had been taking was 
doing him harm. When one reaches fifty years 
of age, having escaped the pitfalls of dissipation, 
and enters upon this stage of life sound in mind 
and body, it behooves to pay great attention to 
what one eats and drinks. These remarks apply 
more particularly to the idle and well-to-do, and 
to those who do brain-work rather than manual 
labor. For those working with their hands the 
all important part is a properly balanced ration 
and proper preparation. Persons who reach fifty, 
particularly of the well-to-do class, eat too much, 
and too often, and take insufficient exercise, and 
thus grow fat and corpulent, not working off the 
excess as they did in the earlier and more active 
periods of life. Especially is this the case with 

men who retire to enjoy a well-earned competency, 

62 



EATING TO LIVE 

and which so often ends in disaster to their health, 
giving us the object-lesson that it is better to wear 
out than to rust out. No one should go from an 
active, busy life to a lazy, useless one. It is never 
too late to take up some occupation, no difference 
what, so it gives some rational employment to 
body and mind. Some study and some practi- 
cal work in nature is best, — agriculture, horticul- 
ture, and such, and what comes out of them and 
with them. At fifty, remember old age is ap- 
proaching, and the average man is sick ten days in 
the year, only being sick four days at twenty. At 
fifty the blood loses some of its richness and loses in 
quantity. The blood-vessels enlarge and are not 
so elastic, and the dangers of atheroma are upon 
us, causing liability to apoplexy, etc., — the natural 
way for old people to die. The heart weakens 
somewhat, probably a provision of nnture to re- 
duce the blood-pressure and thus relieve the press- 
ure on the blood-vessels, now becoming weak like 
the tubes of an old steam-boiler. At sixty a gen- 
eral shrinkage begins, or is well under way, and 
continues on progressively into extreme old age, 
accompanied by loss of teeth, weak digestion, caus- 
ing distention of the stomach and bowels, thus 
pressing up against the diaphragm and interfering 
with comfortable and satisfactory respiration. 
Thus metabolism is interfered with and tissue 

63 



EATING TO LIVE 

changes go on; katabolism — retrograde metamor- 
phosis — is active; anabolism — the building up of 
tissues (the building up of living tissue, the form- 
ing of protoplasm, without which there is no 
life) from nutrient material-^is less active. In 
other words, assimilation becomes less active, and 
hence the body thrives less and less as age in- 
creases. Men and women at fifty should begin to 
cut down particularly the nitrogen in their diet. 
At this age one should dine not more than twice a 
week. Twice a week we may live to eat ; five times 
a week we should eat to live. If we take wine, one 
wine should suffice. If champagne, it should be 
very dry. No one should take sweet champagne 
after fifty years of age. I am speaking of the well- 
to-do and in good health, not of invalids. The clar- 
ets and light burgundies would be better. Port, 
Madeira, and sherry are the most dangerous of all, 
in the order here given. Remember, after fifty, avoid 
alcohol as much as possible, and shade off your to- 
bacco if you use it to excess. As we come to sixty 
years, it is of still more importance to be careful in 
diet and to take the proper ration. Hardening of 
the arteries and its consequences are what we wish 
to avoid. 

Milk or its equivalent becomes more and more 
an important and proper article of diet. If the ap- 
petite is very strong, curb it. Do not eat largely 

64 



EATING TO LIVE 

and drink generously and then complain that you 
cannot breathe properly, are uncomfortable. The 
reason is you cannot digest properly what you have 
taken. Your diaphragm is pressed against your 
natural breathing space, and you are in a condition 
of semi-suffocation. You are laying rapidly the 
foundation for a miserable old age or early death. 
The gouty should take particular care not to over- 
eat. Semi-starvation for these people at times is 
prolongation of comfort in living. After this is 
gone, what is there in life? 

After fifty the mid-day luncheon should be dis- 
pensed with or reduced to a mere bite, and twice 
a day is enough for a hearty meal. As I said be- 
fore, twice a week is often enough to dine ; let the 
other dinners be mere frugal repasts. The elab- 
orate mid-day luncheon as usually set for families 
or partaken of at the restaurant is an abomination 
for those over fifty. I am speaking now of those 
who breakfast in the morning and dine in the 
evening. For those who dine in the middle of 
the day the tea should be only a formal one. 

In hot weather we must modify somewhat our 
diet as compared with our winter diet. Alcohol 
is more dangerous in summer than in winter, 
especially to those exposed to the heat of the sun 
or to artificial heat. It is converted into heat and 
energy in the system and also increases for the 
5 ' 65 



EATING TO LIVE 

time the blood-pressure. It is better to take more 
sugar and less alcohol. If we take ice-water, we 
should take it slowly, not gulp it. So we should 
be careful of large quantities of ices and other cold 
eatables. From fifty to sixty degrees Fahrenheit 
is the proper temperature for summer drinks, un- 
less they be merely sipped. In hot weather also 
diminish the quantity of food we eat. We get heat 
and energy from food. The lower the outside tem- 
perature, of course, the more food we need. We 
need one-fourth more in winter than in summer. 
Fruits and green succulent vegetables are given us 
for summer food, and are proper foods. In sum- 
mer get your fuel and energy from these, and 
your tissue-building material more from the le- 
gumes, as peas, beans, and such, and from bread 
rather than from too much flesh. We eat too much 
meat anyhow. I am sure of this, especially after we 
have reached twenty-five years of age. We are 
omnivorous and must balance our diet. 

Professor Chittenden, of Yale College, has been 
experimenting with an eating squad, as Dr. H. W. 
Wiley has been experimenting with his so-called 
" poison squad." The average man in the United 
States consumes daily seventeen grams of proteids. 
Many experimenters think twelve grams sufficient. 
Professor Chittenden says his squad show him 
seven grams are enough. At this rate we consume 

66 



EATING TO LIVE 

as much again meat as we should, and this excess is 
particularly hard on the kidneys. We will refer to 
Professor Chittenden's experiments again. 

Dr. Wiley suggests we should never allow the 
stomach to be entirely empty. This is not likely 
to occur even on two meals in twenty-four hours, 
for everything we take is not always cleared, on 
digestion time, as it were. Such vegetable foods 
as potatoes and rice and hominy keep up disten- 
tion in winter, and the more succulent vegetables, 
in addition to these, in summer. Concentrated es- 
sences from vegetables would not be enough; we 
want the debris, or that which eventually passes 
off as debris, joined with the essences to keep up 
a good condition of the stomach and intestines. 
From a combination of causes, but, after all, on 
account of the general increase of intelligence 
among the people at large, and their more general 
intermingling, there is a tendency at the present 
time to fads in food and diet far beyond what there 
formerly was. People should depend more on 
their medical advisers, remembering that " he who 
is his own lawyer generally has a fool for a client" ; 
and I will add to this by declaring as my opinion 
that the amateur doctor is usually a knave or a 
fool, or worse. The effect of a fanatical pursuit 
of matters pertaining to one's diet — i.e., of the diet 
of one who does and should in a measure diet — is 

67 



EATING TO LIVE 

to produce a real fear of food, which in the end may 
produce a genuine disease, a genuine neurosis. 

It is not well to think too much over what one 
eats. We must observe the general principles of 
diet according to our condition of health, as I have 
endeavored to impress upon my readers all along; 
but after these hygienic food principles have been 
observed, the appetite and the food furnished us 
may be more or less trusted, indeed must be trusted, 
to retain our proper appreciation of food. The 
child teaches us many things, and he teaches us 
something in diet. The stomach of the child is 
delicate, as is the stomach of advancing age; yet 
one reason why the child can eat and digest cer- 
tain things which the older person cannot is be- 
cause the child never gives it a thought after 
swallowing, whilst the older person, especially the 
one who has fads about eating, will have it disagree 
with him because he thinks about it, and expects 
it to disagree and give him discomfort. The les- 
son to be learned from all this is, do not become 
fanatical in matters of diet; do not make it a 
matter of too general discussion, and rely more 
upon your physician than you do upon your friend 
who has visited all the great health resorts of Eu- 
rope and America, and who, to use a slang expres- 
sion, " knows it all." Above all things, take no ad- 
vice from newspapers, quacks, or amateur doctors. 

68 



EATING TO LIVE 

We hear much of red meats, beef, mutton, etc., 
and of white meats, such as poultry; the white 
meats being popularly considered as the lighter 
diet. There is much fallacy here. Roast ribs of 
beef contain 16.9 per cent, of proteids and 26.8 of 
fats. Sirloin steak holds 18.3 of proteids and 20.2 
of fats. Beef liver, 21.6 of proteids and 5.4 only of 
fats. Loin of pork, 16.8 of proteids and 30.3 of 
fats. Beef tongue, 21.5 of proteids and 23.2 of 
fats. Loin of veal, 19.4 of proteids and 10.4 of 
fats. Loin of lamb, 17.6 of proteids and 28.3 of 
fats. Leg of mutton, 18.2 of proteids and 18 of 
fats. Loin of pork, 16.8 of proteids and 30.3 of 
fats. Bacon, 10 of proteids and 67.2 of fats. Pigs, 
feet, 1 6. 1 of proteids and 14.8 of fats. Pork 
sausage, 12.8 of proteids and 45.4 of fats. See the 
great amount of fats in pork, hence more or less 
indigestible. 

Now let us take up some of the so-called white 
meats. Roast chicken, all edible parts, 22.8 of 
proteids, — sirloin steak, remember, holds only 18.3 
of proteids, and the fats in chicken are low, 1.8. 
Roast turkey, 20.6 of proteids and 22.9 of fat. Sir- 
loin steak has only 20.2 fats. Goose, 13 of proteids 
and 49.9 of fats. Quail, 21.8 of proteids and 8 of 
fats. Most game is high in proteids. So we see 
much fallacy in regarding poultry and white meats 
as a lower diet than beef and other red meats. 

69 



EATING TO LIVE 

Let us compare fish with meats and see the re- 
sult. The average fish diet is surely not the light 
diet we unthinkingly are apt to take it to be; 
nevertheless fish is a safer and lighter diet than red 
meats and such, even if we take the stronger fish, 
like cod. Fish diet does not load the blood with 
as much waste as the heavy meats do, requiring 
the getting of more oxygen by exercise to eliminate 
it from the system. Thus, fish diet does not ren- 
der the overfed man dull, like heavy meats, nor is 
there any truth in the common belief that fish diet 
is the best brain food from the excess of phosphorus 
it contains; nor has it been proved, as suggested, 
that a more or less exclusive fish diet breeds leprosy 
and kindred troubles. Look at the analyses: 

Fresh- water black bass, 20.4 of proteids and 1.7 
of fats. Sea bass, 18.8 of proteids and 5 of fats. 
Fresh shad, 9.4 of proteids and 4.8 of fats. Some 
analyses give to shad a higher proteids average. 
Much fat here. Shad roe, 20.9 of proteids and 3.8 
of fats. Rock, 18.3 of proteids and 2.8 of fats. 
Fresh cod, 15.8 of proteids and .4 of fats. Flounder, 
13.9 of proteids and .6 of fats. Halibut, 18.3 of 
proteids and 5.2 of fats. Smoked herring and 
smoked white fish are high in nitrogen, and the 
herring especially in fats. Salmon, 19.9 of proteids 
and 7.4 of fats. Terrapin is high in proteids, and 
the dressing makes it higher. Lobster, 5.9 of pro- 

70 



EATING TO LIVE 

teids and .7 of fats. Oysters, 6.2 of proteids and 
1.2 of fats. Scallops, 14.8 of proteids and .1 of fats. 
Clams, 10.6 of proteids and 1.1 of fats. Crabs, 7.9 
of proteids and .9 of fats. Shrimps are high in 
nitrogen. Caviare is very high in proteids. 

These analyses show clearly that many of the 
fishes are very high in proteids and fats and are not 
the light diet they are generally thought to be. If 
we want the lowest, we must pick the oyster, the 
clam, the crab, the lobster, and the flounder. Shad, 
salmon, bass, perch, and others are well up to beef- 
steak, and the salmon, the shad, the mackerel, and 
the herring are well up in fats, too. 

Vegetable foods vary greatly. As before stated, 
the beans, peas, and such, are very high in nitro- 
gen, and are often cooked with much grease, mak- 
ing them high up in fats. Some have a good deal 
of sugar, as the sweet potato, the yam, the pea, and 
corn. Cabbage is not strong food, containing so 
much water. Such foods give healthy distention 
to the stomach and bowels. Cauliflower is another, 
celery another, and lettuce another. Mushrooms 
are rich in water and comparatively low, contrary 
to the usual idea, in proteids. In carbohydrates they 
hold 6.8. Onions are high in water, low in proteids, 
and fairly well up in sugar. So are parsnips. White 
potatoes are 62.6 of water, 1.8 of proteids, .1 of 
fats, and 14.7 of starch. Sweet potatoes are 55.2 

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EATING TO LIVE 

of water, 1.4 of proteids, .6 of fats, and away up 
in sugar, 21.9. Beets are high in water, 70.0, 
1.3 of proteids, .1 of fats, and J.J of sugar. Green 
corn, 75.4 of water, 3.1 of proteids, 1.1 of fats, and 
19.7 of sugar. Here are green peas — see how 
strong they are in tissue-building, etc. — 74.6 of 
water, 7.0 of proteids, 0.5 of fats, and 16.9 of starch 
and sugar. Dried peas are 9.5 of water only, 24.6 
of proteids, 1.0 of fats, and 62.0 of carbohydrates. 
No wonder they form much of the army and navy 
ration. 

Beans are about as strong as peas, green or dry. 
Spinach, tomatoes, turnips, and squash are weak 
foods, but help along in diet by their flavor and 
bulk, and with the helps they contain are sui gene- 
ris. The sugars are an important article of diet, 
and are especially useful in hot weather and in the 
tropics. Candy is often now served in the armies 
and navies, in the tropics especially. In carbohy- 
drates, granulated sugar is 100, molasses is 70.0, 
candies are 96.0, honey is 81.0, and maple syrup is 
71.4. 

As to the cereals, let us look at them as to their 
strength and food value. Flour made from entire 
wheat (called Graham flour) is a little higher 
in proteids than roller-process flour, though not 
much, and also a little higher in fats, with more 
ash as loss, and in carbohydrates is lower, espe- 

72 



EATING TO LIVE 

cially than the high grade roller-process flour. 
Macaroni and vermicelli in this country run about 
as wheat flour. Rye flour is not so strong a flour 
as wheat flour. Corn meal has less proteids than 
wheat flour and really not much more fats and 
about as much carbohydrates. Oat meal has much 
more proteids than the others, much more fat, and 
less carbohydrates, and is a stronger food. Rice 
as we get it in our markets has less proteids, very 
little fats, and more carbohydrates than flour and 
meal, and therefore is not so strong a food. Tapi- 
oca is almost all carbohydrates. Breads will be 
more particularly noted further on. Canned veg- 
etables run about the same as those not canned, but 
lack freshness, which is an important matter. Never 
eat anything canned if you can get the fresh pro- 
ducts. Fruits will be spoken of further on. 

Nuts have high food value. Almonds have 11.5 
of proteids, 30.2 of fats, and 9.5 of carbohydrates. 
Brazilnuts are higher in fats and lower in proteids 
and carbohydrates. Butternuts are low in proteids, 
high in fats, and low in carbohydrates. Chestnuts 
are fairly high in proteids, low in fats, high in car- 
bohydrates, and are fairly strong food. Cocoanut 
is low in proteids, high in fats, and low in carbo- 
hydrates. Filberts are fairly high in proteids, high 
in fats, and low in carbohydrates. Hickorynuts 
and shellbarks, probably the best flavored of our 

73 



EATING TO LIVE 

nuts, are fairly high in proteids and in fats and low 
in carbohydrates. Pecans are fairly high in pro- 
teids, high in fats, and low in carbohydrates. Pea- 
nuts are very high in proteids and fairly high in 
fats and carbohydrates, and are strong food. Black 
walnuts are fairly high in proteids, only fairly high 
in fats, and very low in carbohydrates. English 
walnuts are a little lower in proteids, much higher 
in fats, and about double in carbohydrates. It will 
thus be seen that nuts altogether have good food 
values. 

Cereal coffees, as they are called in the trade, 
have little food value beyond the water and sugar 
added to them. The highest in food values of the 
breakfast foods is oats, and if we want foods less 
strong we can go to those made of wheat and 
corn and such. Those made of oats are the best 
and cheapest in the long run. 

Good rules as to dietetics have been laid down 
by the Mosaic dispensation. The rules given 
there and the hygienic principles urged are in 
many ways most proper and correct. Kosher, 
as used, denotes foods that nourish and are digesti- 
ble. Treife, on the other hand, denotes material 
which does not supply nourishment and which may 
produce bad effects in the system. The Jewish in- 
spection begins with the slaughtering of animals, 
poultry, etc. Their butchers kill by severing the 

74 



EATING TO LIVE 

pneumogastric nerve, the carotid artery, and the 
jugular vein, and death is supposed to be instan- 
taneous. Blood does not collect in the tissues, and 
thus early decomposition is avoided. The religious 
official, always present, inspects rigidly the lungs, 
the heart, and the digestive organs, and if any de- 
fect is found the carcass is immediately stamped 
" treife," which signifies that it is unfit for food. 
This is a divine command, and surely the results 
are good. The divine command recognizes as unfit 
for food the camel, the mole, the weasel, the lizard, 
the groundhog, and the pig. The Gentile probably 
eats more pork than any other meat. Yet the hog 
is a dirty animal and the host for many patho- 
genic germs and parasites. Some even go so far 
as to say that the promiscuous eating of pork is a 
cause for cancer and other horrible afflictions. This 
has not been proved, yet we know the Jews as a 
race are proverbially healthy. All aquatic animals 
not having fins and scales are prohibited as food. 
Insects and reptiles are barred, and these we know 
hold a very low order in life. Snails and crabs are 
debarred, and so are turtles and such. In fact, if 
we look closely into these ordinary foods much used 
by the Gentile we will see that modern progress in 
the study of bacteriology has shown that many 
of them are unclean as to the frequent presence in 
them of the various bacteria known to be harmful 

75 



EATING TO LIVE 

to man, and thus the Mosaic food laws laid down 
thousands of years ago are at the present day both 
sound and in accordance with the development of 
modern science. 

Man is a gregarious animal, and therefore it is 
right to infer that he should have company in his 
eating. For proper digestion man should not eat 
alone. It is probably not well to read your morn- 
ing newspaper at breakfast. This habit leads to 
bolting of food with all of its attendant bad re- 
sults. Cheerful conversation at table is right and 
proper. We thus eat more slowly, drink more 
slowly, masticate our food better, and thus avoid 
the pitfalls of dyspepsia and malnutrition. Many, 
very many of our people, dwellers in our cities, eat 
all of their meals in restaurants and at quick-lunch 
counters. They eat rapidly and hustle off to busi- 
ness or pleasure, and thus lay the foundation for 
the digestive and nervous troubles now running 
rampant throughout the civilized world, but espe- 
cially among the people of our own country. 
Again I say, it is not well for man to eat alone. 

Adulteration of Food Products. 

Here is a most important problem the world must 

face, and it is particularly of importance to the 

people of the United States, because we here are 

all accustomed to boast that we live under a free 

76 



EATING TO LIVE 

government and can do pretty much as we individ- 
ually choose to do. This helps to make the adul- 
teration of foods very common in this country; 
and while a number of the States have enacted 
laws more or less strict to restrain the practice, the 
National Congress has as yet refused, or rather 
failed, to pass a greatly-needed pure-food law that 
shall apply to the nation at large. In this case State 
laws will not do, unless they be absolutely the same, 
word for word, and that is well-nigh impossible. 
The interested interests, instigated by the devil and 
all selfishness, can so manipulate State legislation 
as to make it practically ineffective as to the protec- 
tion of the people. There is an enormous capital 
employed in food supplies, in their procurement, in 
their preparation, and in their adulteration; and 
just so long as this enormous capital can protect 
those engaged in the business, just so long will the 
people be cheated and gulled and poisoned. The 
proper remedy is a national pure-food law cover- 
ing the conditions absolutely, and the sooner we get 
such a law the better it will be for our stomachs, 
our pockets, and our morals. 

The higher we progress in civilization the better 
the opportunity for food adulteration. The sav- 
age knows nothing of such abominations. Hun- 
dreds of years ago France made some efforts to 
check adulteration, especially the adulteration of 

77 



EATING TO LIVE 

flour. Some effort was also made as to milk and 
wine and medicines. At this time Germany also 
commenced to be active on these lines. 

About 1700 England became active in guarding 
tea and coffee. Roasted beans and peas and wheat 
were used as adulterants. In i860 Dr. Hassall be- 
came active in combating food adulteration in 
England, and Germany and France also took up the 
matter seriously. Of course in foods the adultera- 
tions may be harmless as to health and fraudulent 
as to the pocket. Again, they may be harmful to 
both. Oleomargarine may not be harmful as to 
health, but it is a deceit to sell it for butter, and 
this fraud should be stopped. So with all such 
articles, they should be sold for exactly what they 
are, and not for what they are not. Those who 
commit frauds in food-stuffs claim that competi- 
tion in trade makes it a trade necessity. This is 
no excuse, and people should not be made to suffer 
for such selfishness. The English Parliament has 
examined the subject quite thoroughly, and on evi- 
dence received has recommended that the use of 
formaldehyde in foods or drinks be absolutely pro- 
hibited. There is no telling how much suffering 
and how many deaths the use of formaldehyde in 
milk, for example, has produced in the United 
States. The sin is at the present time all-prevailing. 
In England the use of all coloring matter and pre- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

servatives in milk has been recommended forbidden. 
If boric acid be used, it shall not exceed 0.25 per 
cent, expressed as boric acid. The only preserva- 
tive allowed in butter and oleomargarine is boric 
acid, and this is not to exceed 5 per cent, expressed 
as boric acid. It would be much better to use none 
of it, especially if used for infants or invalids. For 
greening vegetables the copper salts are to be for- 
bidden. Here is a great sociological problem, and, 
it has been well said, must come under the prov- 
ince of criminal psychology. 

Great frauds are perpetrated in drugs and medi- 
cines and in so-called patent medicines. Here gov- 
ernment supervision is absolutely necessary. Fraud 
and chicanery are rampant, and all of the people 
are sufferers. Drug fiends and alcoholics are con- 
tinually being made and few raise a hand to save 
them. If any of these nostrums contain alcohol, or 
any drug whatever, the fact should be made known 
on the label and the amount of each openly indi- 
cated. Thus the public would be protected, and the 
vile trade, fattening on human infirmities, checked 
or abolished altogether. 

It is estimated that the American people alone 
spend annually on adulterated foods and medicines 
ninety millions of dollars. There are imitations of 
almost everything good or useful in dietetics. The 
better things are, the more they are imitated or 

79 



EATING TO LIVE 

adulterated. You can make flour from ground 
damaged peas, rice, and soapstone. These in- 
gredients have been found in brands of wheat 
flour, and the scoundrels making them are still un- 
hanged. Peanut oil and cotton-seed oil are both 
sold for olive oil. The deception here is really 
more in name than in quality, but the fraud is no 
less glaring. Potato starch is used to adulterate 
sago, and glucose, flour, and clay can make a sugar 
to be sold as cane sugar. Potatoes, white and 
sweet, chicory, peas, beans, and acorns are manipu- 
lated and sold as pure coffee, and the coffee-bean 
itself is now imitated, no coffee whatever being 
used. Butter is imitated by oleomargarine and 
sold as butter. Here is the fraud. As oleomar- 
garine, people know what they are getting. Filled 
cheese is very common, and thus skimmed milk 
and lard, or rather fats, are sold as full cheese. As 
to spices, no man knows what they contain. Con- 
demned hardtack is a favorite adulterant. Sand, 
bran, sawdust, cocoanut shells, corn meal, olive 
seeds, and all sorts of earths and clays are used as 
adulterants. Pure cider vinegar is likely to • be 
dilute sulphuric acid flavored with any sour trash 
available. Chrome )>-ellow, that horrible, soul-con- 
suming poison, is, I have no doubt, still used to give 
a golden egg color to the products of some bak- 
eries. Candy is subject to all kinds of adulterants, 

80 



EATING TO LIVE 

and the only end to it is when the proper ingredients 
are cheaper than the injurious ones. Honey is 
imitated by maple sugar and glucose, and the very 
combs are imitated to hold it. As to preserves, 
those sold in the stores are mostly horrors. Glu- 
cose, gelatin, cochineal, with flavoring extracts 
from the coal-tar derivatives, compose the most of 
them, and whatever Providence may vouchsafe to 
us in the way of fruits, whether the harvest be 
great or small, these frauds are always obtainable 
by ignorant, credulous purchasers, the victims of 
conspiracy most injurious and most foul. 

So it is in the furnishing of special dietetic foods 
for the sick, fraud keeps pace with rapacity; and 
as we progress in the evolution of knowledge to 
eradicate or check these scourges to mankind, the 
evolution of greed and deception keeps pace with 
us, and the sorry victims are sacrificed upon the 
altar of " man's inhumanity to man." 

The Effects of using Food Preservatives. 
Dr. H. W. Wiley, chief of the Bureau of Chem- 
istry, Department of Agriculture of the United 
States, has been experimenting with a class of 
young men chosen for the purpose as to their phy- 
sique, habits, etc., and so far has confined himself 
chiefly to the results obtained by using salicylic 

acid and borax. Every precaution has been taken 
6 81 



EATING TO LIVE 

in this work to keep it free from error and decep- 
tion, and the results obtained are trustworthy. 
There was found to be, as was expected, a great 
difference in the resisting forces of the individual. 
With borax one man's limit was two grams in 
twenty-four hours. Another's limit extended to 
eleven grams in twenty-four hours. These limits 
were noted by the effects on the individual, the kind 
.of food taken, the body weight, the temperature, the 
pulse, the examination of the blood, the analysis of 
the excreta, and the objective and subjective symp- 
toms presented by the patient. Among other things 
Dr. Wiley said, as to the results of his experiments, 
that sugar was about the only article not adulter- 
ated at the present time, and that this was an ex- 
ception with many exceptions. Dr. Wiley found 
no trouble in getting men for his so-called " poison 
squad," many more presenting than could be taken 
on. As to Wiley's results, they show that the use 
of salicylic acid as a food preservative is injurious 
to health, even in small quantities. One of the 
poison squad was happy, for in him rheumatism 
developed, and the salicylic acid cured him of it. 
This we all know it will do generally. As to borax, 
the food preserved with borax made the men all 
sick, and probably its long-continued use would 
produce kidney lesions in man, as is well known it 
does in cats fed on borated food. Here is positive 

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EATING TO LIVE 

evidence against their uses in food products that 
kills all arguments of an opposite view advanced 
by those who are interested in foisting such stuffs 
upon an unsuspecting public. 

Recently American Medicine, in editorially sum- 
ming up a cursory review of one of Dr. Victor 
C. Vaughan's lectures on food preservatives and 
the public health, very properly said, in quoting 
him, that poison is a substance which, by virtue 
of its chemic constituents, destroys or impairs cell 
function. The employment of poisons as food pre- 
servatives must be only when sanctioned by long- 
continued custom or upheld by law. Vaughan is 
thoroughly in accord with court decisions that the 
presence of such substances is illegal, whether they 
are actually in poisonous quantities or not. The 
right to administer poisons to other people is given 
only to physicians, and as the handling of poisons 
by the physician and the druggist is regulated by 
law, why not thus regulate the putting of poisons 
in our daily food? 

To sum up the entire question, a food preserva- 
tive must not be a cell poison, or, if it is a poison, 
it must be added to food under legal restrictions 
only, by persons duly authorized, and all foods 
containing it must bear labels plainly announcing 
its presence and its quantity. This is a reasonable 
and safe conclusion. Those who honestly hold op- 

83 



EATING TO LIVE 

posing views and testify for persons who secretly 
employ preservatives, when they are called to jus- 
tice, necessarily overlook the basic principles of the 
cause in which they pose as experts. 

Diet for the Baby and the Child. 
To be properly fed the baby must live on its 
mother's milk until it has reached the age of twelve 
months. Of course, to do this the child must thrive 
and thus show the food to agree with it, and the 
mother must be in all respects healthy and furnish 
milk in every way proper for nourishment for the 
offspring. Blessed is the baby who has a mother 
able and willing to afford it proper sustenance, for 
the rapid pace of modern life is more and more ren- 
dering the nursing of infants distasteful and even 
annoying to many mothers, and this is especially 
so as we ascend the scale of social life. There is no 
substitute for mother's milk. We are often driven 
to substitutes, but they are mere makeshifts. The 
living stomach is not a laboratory bottle. As 
Jacobi says, cows' milk casein and cows' milk fat 
cannot be changed into woman's casein and 
woman's fat ; the warmth of the human bosom and 
the warmth of the nursing-bottle are not identical, 
and cows' milk, certified or modified, is not human 
milk. Human milk contains phosphorus com- 
pounds, as nuclein and lecithin, and cows' milk has 

84 



EATING TO LIVE 

too much of the soda and potash salts for the baby. 
The ferments of all milks are said to be sui generis, 
suitable for each animal. Cows' milk cannot be 
changed into human milk, or vice versa. The for- 
mulae offered by the baby-food people are no sub- 
stitutes for mother's milk ; they are, as before said, 
mere makeshifts. Again quoting Jacobi, the in- 
ability or reluctance of women to nurse their own 
infants is a grave matter. From a physical, moral, 
and socio-political point of view there is only one 
calamity still graver, — that is, to refuse to have 
children at all. It undermines the health of women, 
makes family life a commercial institution, a desert, 
depopulates the child world, reduces original 
Americans to a small minority, and leaves the 
creation of the future America in the hands of 
twentieth century foreigners. The human society 
of the future will have to see to it that no poverty, 
no cruel labor laws, no accident, no luxurious indo- 
lence, must interfere with the nursing of infants. 
If the physical and moral conditions of the human 
race are to be perfected, able-bodied women must 
nurse their own infants, for infants are to be the 
future citizens of the republic. Antiquity did not 
know of artificial infant-feeding; it takes modern 
civilization to expose babies to disease and extinc- 
tion. To proper infant-feeding society and family 
owe more than life, — they owe good health, vital 

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EATING TO LIVE 

resistance, and security against life-long invalidism. 
Even willing mothers may have no milk. This is 
too often apparent now. We require a stronger, 
healthier race, and one that is physically not on the 
down grade. The nursing question is a social and 
economic problem like so many others, like the 
child-bearing question, that confronts modern civ- 
ilization. 

Analysis of Human Milk. — Griffith. 
Reaction alkaline. Bacteria absent. Water, 87- 
88 per cent. Total solids, 12-13 per cent. Fat, 4 
per cent. Proteids, 1— 1.5 per cent. Milk sugar, 
7 per cent. Ash, 0.2 per cent. 

Analysis of Cows' Milk. — Griffith. 

Reaction acid. Bacteria present. Water, 86-87 
per cent. Total solids, 13-14 per cent. Fat, 4 per 
cent. Proteids, 4 per cent. Milk sugar, 4-5 per 
cent. Ash, 0.7 per cent. 

Looking at these analyses, we see bacteria in 
cows' milk and not in human milk ; cows' milk acid 
and human milk alkaline. Fats are the same in 
both. Woman's milk is nearly twice as rich in 
sugar, has only about one-fourth as much pro- 
teids, and is much less cheesy. This cheesiness is 
too much for the baby. In making infant food of 
cows' milk we must add water to lessen the pro- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

teids, and to make up for this we must add to it 
cream and sugar. Also we must add an alkali to 
reduce the acidity. Human milk contains lactalbu- 
min to a greater extent than cows' milk, and this 
is more digestible than the too much casein of cows' 
milk. 

If we boil cows' milk, or pasteurize it, we make 
it more indigestible than the raw milk, yet this is 
often necessary to destroy the pathogenic germs 
present. All of these matters bear close watching 
in feeding the baby on cows' milk. You cannot be 
too careful in choosing cows' milk for the baby, or 
any lower animal milk. Have it examined chemi- 
cally and bacteriologically. As a rule, take herd 
milk and not one cow's milk. From herd milk you 
get a better balance. Herds of course should be 
frequently tested for tuberculosis and such, and to 
see that the surroundings are clean. Gilt-edge 
cows housed in gilt-edge barns are, as a rule, more 
liable to be unhealthy than grade animals, for the 
reason that their high breeding and their environ- 
ment are unnatural. The natural environment of 
the cow is the open air. As a rule, high-grade 
Jersey and Alderney milk is too rich in fats for the 
baby, unless diluted. 

The care of milk is of the greatest importance. 
Too much care cannot be exercised as to cleanli- 
ness, etc. After milking, it should be rapidly 

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EATING TO LIVE 

cooled and placed in sealed jars. Those in charge 
of babies should be provided with a lactometer, and 
this should be frequently used to test the density 
of the milk. To test for the fats, a creamometer 
should be used. This instrument is probably not 
more reliable than the physical appearances of the 
milk as to richness. We are now speaking of 
cows' milk. The same tests should be applied from 
time to time to human milk. For testing the acid- 
ity of milk we use litmus paper, blue and red. If 
acid, it turns litmus blue to red. If alkaline, it 
turns litmus red to blue. We are getting more and 
more light on the milk question, as adulterants and 
antiferments are being more and more used by un- 
scrupulous and ignorant dealers. Milk inspection, 
especially in cities and towns where most needed, 
is becoming quite general, and is saving much suf- 
fering and many lives. Milk inspection cannot be 
too closely guarded. 

A Substitute for Human Milk. 

Griffith gives the following, which is among the 
best : 

Cows' milk, one ounce; cream, centrifuged or 
separated by a separator, now much used, one and 
one-half ounces, 

cream, skimmed (16 per cent, fat), two ounces; 
lime water, one-half ounce; milk sugar, one scant 

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EATING TO LIVE 

half-ounce; water, enough to make in all eight 
ounces. If this mixture is to be sterilized by heat, 
use bicarbonate of soda in place of the lime water. 
For the eight-ounce mixture a good pinch of the 
soda will be sufficient. 

If we cannot get good cream, Griffith advises the 
use of " top milk." Take a quart of morning milk, 
put in a jar, screw lid on tight, and place on ice 
for from four to six hours. Now siphon off all but 
six ounces of the milk. Of course the siphon is 
run to the bottom before siphoning, and the bottom 
milk is what is siphoned off; that which is left 
is " top milk." The Chapin dipper is another 
means for getting top milk. The more top milk 
left, of course, the weaker it is. Top milk is 
really a cream. The same purpose may be ac- 
complished, but not so accurately, by pouring off 
the top layer of the milk, and this is known as 
poured milk. 

" Top Milk" Mixture, according to Griffith. 

Top milk, two ounces; lime water, one-half 
ounce, or bicarbonate of soda, a pinch ; milk sugar, 
scant half ounce ; water, sufficient to make a half- 
pint mixture. 

Absolute cleanliness in all manipulation is neces- 
sary. 

As in all cases of diet making, study the indi- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

vidual, in the baby as well as in the adult. Human 
milk as it comes from the mother is practically free 
from germs. 

Artificial milk food for the baby is usually ster- 
ilized (raised to 212 Fahrenheit, that is, boiled) ; 
or raised to about 160 Fahrenheit in the bottles 
and then put on ice; this is called pasteurizing. 
Remember in all this cooking of milk you really 
reduce its food value and take away its freshness, 
and thus render the baby more liable to malnutri- 
tion in the shape of infantile scurvy, etc. On the 
other hand, heat destroys the pathogenic germs : so 
the feeding of each child is a case of watching and 
planning to keep within the proper bounds. Never 
allow the child to suck the nipple of a bottle after it 
is empty; it is a bad habit, and begets bad habits. 
Condensed milk, as a rule, is not good food for the 
baby. I often see it resorted to by mothers in very 
hot weather, when it is almost impossible to get 
sweet milk, and on such occasions I have resorted 
to it myself, for as it leaves the can it is sterile. It 
should be removed at once from the can on open- 
ing it, as should all canned products, and kept on 
ice in china or glass. If we dilute with water con- 
densed milk sufficiently to make the proteids digest- 
ible, we get too little fats, and vice versa. Thus 
the baby fed exclusively on condensed milk does 
not thrive. Stand behind these babies, and look at 

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EATING TO LIVE 

their necks, and you see evidences of semistarva- 
tion. As a rule, the baby foods on the market are 
not good substitutes for mother's milk, but now 
and then may be used as makeshifts. 

Diet after the Child has been Weaned — up to 

Puberty. 

Up to a year and a half the weaned child needs 
five meals in twenty-four hours, commencing on 
getting up in the morning and ending at ten p.m., 
or thereabouts. Milk is yet the chief nourishment. 
With milk give the cereals, of which oatmeal is 
probably the strongest. Eggs are also allowable, if 
soft-boiled. Rice may be used with beef gravy, and 
meat essences with bread, and bread and butter, 
softened. See that the baby gets sufficient nitrogen 
and thrives. 

After two years old the baby may get more 
variety. Even some minced poultry and meats 
may be given. Still plenty of milk and cereals and 
eggs and such, and the last eating may take place 
at baby's bedtime. As the baby advances to three 
years of age, give more meat and more bread and 
butter, more fruit, more starch, and more sugar; 
in fact, quite an advanced diet. Between-meal eat- 
ing is not good, and the less of candies the better. 
Better adjust the sugar in the general diet. 

After three years of age, as the child comes to 

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EATING TO LIVE 

the table, it generally expands in its diet and lives 
more as one of the family. It must now be watched 
and guarded. Its tastes must be studied and its 
idiosyncrasies regulated and excesses prohibited. 

As we come to man's estate we must apportion 
what we eat to our necessities. At this age we 
probably all eat too much, and especially too much 
• of meats and other nitrogenous foods. We over- 
balance our proper ration. Of course, much will 
depend upon our environment and upon our occu- 
pation. The diet of the soldier and the naval sailor 
is about the diet needed by the average laborer. 
The soldier and the sailor can be controlled as to 
the proper variety, and even better than the inde- 
pendent laborer as to quantity. The tables already 
given show the composition of normal diets for 
soldiers and sailors. 

Our early manhood diet, say from eighteen to 
forty years of age, is most important as to its 
quality, its quantity, its preparation, and its 
selection. 

Let us look into the proper diet for a family of, 
say, a father, who is a mechanic, with the mother 
and three children, one eleven years, one eight 
years, and one eight months. Atwater and Woods 
have worked out such cases well. The family was 
dependent, and the eleven-year-old child did the 
marketing. For ten days the food cost ten dollars 

92 



EATING TO LIVE 

and twenty-two cents. Rent, twelve dollars per 
month. Wages of man, fifty dollars per month. 
Seven dollars was left, after paying for rent and 
food for a month, with which to buy fuel, light, 
clothing, etc. At the prices paid, this family could 
have been fed on almost half, had the proper in- 
telligence been used in buying the right kind of 
food. Of the foods, the animal food cost 56 per 
cent, and the vegetable 44 per cent. Beef, veal, 
mutton, and fish composed over half the cost of the 
animal food. The cost of the vegetable food was 
enhanced by buying high-priced, self-raising flours, 
etc., showing want of knowledge and management. 
Bananas and oranges bought were extravagant, 
being mostly water. Peanuts were a good pur- 
chase. 

For this family the food purchased per man per 
day furnished one-fourth more nutriment than is 
needed for a man at moderate work. Three per 
cent, of the total food went as kitchen waste, and 
thus 1 per cent, per day of proteids was wasted. 
Deducting this, there was still an excess of food. 
The food eaten contained at least 25 grams pro- 
teids and a fuel value of 600 calories per man per 
day more than was needed by a man at moderate 
work. When the man was not working, he and 
his family would have been well nourished if the 
food had only contained 100 grams of proteids, 

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EATING TO LIVE 

and had had a fuel value of 3000 calories per man 
per day. The nutritive ratio of the food eaten 
(1 : 5.5) was about equal to the dietary standards. 
Atwater and Woods suggest that the amount of 
food purchased might have been reduced from 25 
to 30 per cent., and a considerable saving of money 
effected. A more judicious selection of food and 
greater attention to details of marketing and prep- 
aration of the food might have still further reduced 
the cost. Such carefulness in purchase and prep- 
aration would have also reduced the kitchen and 
table wastes, so that practically no food would have 
been wasted. 

The more intelligent selection of food, both from 
the nutritive and pecuniary stand-points, would 
preclude the purchase at the prices paid of such 
foods as chicken, cod, flounder, shad, condensed 
milk, canned asparagus, prepared flours, radishes, 
celery, cherry jelly, etc., which this inexperienced 
little market child bought, and would have led to 
the increased purchase of more economical foods, 
including peas, beans, wheat flour, rice, and the 
cheap but nutritious cuts of beef, veal, and mutton. 
In this way a large proportion of the money spent 
for food could have been saved with advantage to 
health without interfering with the palatability of 
the food eaten. 

All this is interesting and is shown here as an 

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EATING TO LIVE 

object lesson as to the slipshod manner in which 
such people live. The balanced ration is the im- 
portant matter for man. A man who does not eat 
enough often gets an unbalanced ration; so does 
the man who eats too much. Pork, butter, and 
eggs would be an unbalanced ration, — too much fat 
and too little carbohydrates. A man cannot live 
on potatoes alone and thrive, — it would take a 
peck of potatoes daily to give him enough proteids. 

Again, let me give the estimated food necessary 
for a healthy man from, say, eighteen to forty-five 
years of age, for twenty-four hours. Proteids, 125 
grams; fats, 125 grams; carbohydrates, 450 
grams; calories furnished, 3500, with salts 30 
grams. 

A mere subsistence ration would be as follows: 
Proteids, 75 grams per day; fat, 40 grams; carbo- 
hydrates, 325 grams; calories, 2000, with salts 25 
grams. An ideal ration for twenty-four hours 
would be: Wheat bread, 16 ounces; beef, 8 
ounces ; oysters, 8 ounces ; cocoa, 1 ounce ; cows' 
milk, 4 ounces; broth, 16 ounces; sugar, 1 ounce; 
butter, Yz ounce. This for a man doing average 
work, and would furnish 2575.52 calories. 

These diets must be modified by age, by occupa- 
tion, and by the physical condition. The sedentary 
man, the sick man, the physically weak man must 
modify his diet accordingly. If too much nitrogen 

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EATING TO LIVE 

for the condition is taken, the combustion is incom- 
plete, and, instead of ending as it should in urea, it 
ends as it should not, — in uric acid and trouble. If 
too much fats and carbohydrates are taken, we get 
excess of fat, etc., and so on as we transgress in 
our diet. This all becomes more and more appar- 
ent as age progresses and we become less active 
and unable to burn up and oxidize the excess of 
food taken. 

As an object lesson as to the amount of food 
required for a healthy, strong man, let us take the 
following, as given by Church: A laborer of one 
hundred and fifty pounds weight requires of albu- 
minoids, 4.8 ounces; fats, 4.4 ounces; starch, etc., 
14.4 ounces per diem. An East Indian of one 
hundred and five pounds weight, albuminoids, 3.6 
ounces; fats, 2.5 ounces; starch, etc., 11.2 ounces 
per diem. An athlete in full training requires, al- 
buminoids, 7.9 ounces; fats, 2.3 ounces; starch, 
etc., 27 ounces. The athlete will also take a large 
amount of water. School-boys, ten to twelve years 
old, require about half as much flesh-formers as 
active men and about three-fourths as much fats, 
starch, etc. Women living luxurious lives require 
about the same amounts as these school-boys. A 
blacksmith working will require, albuminoids, 5.6 
ounces; fats, 2.5 ounces; starch, sugars, etc., 20.4 
ounces; mineral matter, 0.9 ounce. Prison diet 

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EATING TO LIVE 

may average, albuminoids, 1.8 ounces; fats, 0.5 
ounce; starch, sugar, etc., 10.7 ounces; and min- 
eral matter, 0.6 ounce. If at hard labor they re- 
quire a stronger diet, of course. The modification 
of diet as to age, etc., has been before spoken of, 
and it is not necessary again to refer to it here. 

Vegetarianism. 
It has been pretty well established that man can- 
not live in health and comfort and enjoy life on a 
vegetable diet alone. As before stated, it would 
take a peck of white potatoes a day to give a man 
sufficient proteids for laborious work. He may get 
everything from vegetables, but not sufficient for 
a balanced ration from a reasonable amount of 
food. Vegetarians are usually fanatics, non-pro- 
ducers, but, as a rule, take care of their health and 
do not dissipate, — commendable qualities surely; 
and if they would only live on a scientific, well- 
balanced ration, they would, as a rule, live longer, 
be happier, and be more useful citizens. Those 
who live only on vegetable food, and on that food 
which destroys no life to get it, such as eggs and 
milk and its products, can get a well-balanced 
ration, and surely will be better and happier than 
those who take an omnivorous diet unscientifically 
chosen in quantity and quality and ravenously 
eaten. We cannot argue that the ancient Britons 
7 97 



EATING TO LIVE 

subsisted on roots and nuts and the spontaneous 
productions of the ground, or that certain savage 
tribes live on vegetables alone. Providence pro- 
vided and does provide a complete ration for them 
in some way and at some time, if not regularly, or 
they would never be the sturdy races they were 
and are. 

Special Diets for Corpulency, and how to get Fat 
when too Lean, etc. 

It has been said, " a piece of charcoal, some at- 
mospheric air, a little water, and some salt contain 
all the elements of a typical diet, and in ample 
quantity;" but we cannot live on a piece of char- 
coal, some atmospheric air, a little water, and some 
salt, served in kind, at least. But prepare them in 
palatable dress, and we take them with avidity and 
grow fat, showing it is not altogether the elements 
the food contains that make it available, but how 
and in what way these elements are contained is the 
important matter. Another thing it shows,— we 
must know something more than the absolute chem- 
ical composition of food-stuffs before we can fore- 
tell exactly the effect on the individual. 

Now, as to the special diets for obesity, etc., call 
them what you may, they all mean, as a rule, semi- 
starvation. Withhold a proper amount of food 
from the animal and you cause a loss of weight. 

98 



EATING TO LIVE 

Excessive weight is a great source of inconven- 
ience, — a humiliation, to some. It is most fre- 
quently hereditary and a perfectly natural state for 
the individual. After all, the philosophy of exist- 
ence, in one sense at least, is to feel good and well. 
Obesity may be a disease, but if so, it is usually the 
fault of bad habits in the individual. If one will 
live a sober, industrious, and in every way a tem- 
perate life, restricting, as one surely must very 
decidedly, the appetite for sugars, starches, and 
fats in particular, and for all meats and drinks 
somewhat, but not beyond the comforts of exist- 
ence, as most of these special methods do, then one 
will neither be overburdened with fat nor threat- 
ened with evils of a more dangerous kind from 
unscientific regimen. 

The Banting system undoubtedly, if followed 
up, causes loss of bulk, but has its dangers, and 
surely is most inconvenient and unpleasant to those 
following it. He allowed about twelve ounces of 
lean meat per day, about two ounces of bread, and 
about twelve ounces of fruit and green vegetables. 
He allowed thirty-five ounces of fluids in twenty- 
four hours, nothing like as much fluid as a man 
should part with in the same length of time. As 
Thompson says, the fats and albuminoids are not 
well balanced here, and constipation of the bowels 
must ensue. 

99 



EATIXG TO Lira 

The Ebstein theory, as given by Thompson, is, 
that animal foods, as well as carbohydrates, par- 
ticularly sugars and starches, are capable of being 
turned into fat. The carbohydrates, he says, fur- 
nish force for the body, and by their combustion 
spare the complete oxidation of the albuminates, 
which are therefore stored in the tissues in a sub- 
oxidized form. His theory is that fatty food does 
not give rise to the storage of fat in the body, and 
he allows it. and particularly because it causes 
satiety sooner and makes one eat less. He allows 
no sugar, potatoes, rice, or other farinaceous food 
except three ounces and a half of bread daily. He 
allows the non-starchy vegetables and a moderate 
amount of any kind of meat. He restricts fluids 
to about one-half normal. Breakfast, one cup of 
black tea, no susrar or milk, with two ounces of 
buttered toast. Dinner, at noon, six ounces of 
boiled or roasted fat beef, with drip gravy, one or 
two non-starchy vegetables in moderation, and for 
dessert a salad and a fruit, a little light wine, and 
tea, no sugar or milk. Supper, tea. no milk or 
sugar, one soft egg, a moderate allowance of fish, 
ham, or cold fat meat, one ounce thin buttered 
bread or toast, and fruit. On this diet one cannot 
work hard or take active exercise and be thor- 
oughly comfortable, for he only gets fourteen hun- 
dred calories potential energy- in nutrients. 

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101 



EATING TO LIVE 

On the preceding page is a table by Atkinson of 
a comparison of dietaries for obesity with ordinary 
dietaries, from Thompson. 

From this table the patients under Banting and 
Ebstein get starvation diet sure, while the students 
from the Northern United States get too much. 
Atkinson's man at moderate work gets well sup- 
ported ; the poor sewing-girl is ill nourished, mostly 
on carbohydrates, as we should suppose; and the 
German professor, how about him ? Well, he does 
not live high, but gets several glasses of beer, as 
his carbohydrates show. 

The Oertel system is newer, and I am indebted 
to Professor Thompson's book for information in 
regard to it. The purpose in OerteFs system is 
to strengthen the circulation by strengthening the 
heart, and then the fat, once rid of, does not 
return. He makes two classes of the obese, and 
regulates their diet accordingly. First, those in 
whom fat has accumulated, but in whom the circu- 
lation and respiration are not impaired, and the 
person can use muscular effort and walk and run. 
Second, those in whom, from advanced stasis and 
hydraemia, and with a deficiency of haemoglobin in 
the blood — anaemic — the amount of oxygen taken 
up from the lungs is much reduced, and who are 
short of breath on exertion. For the first class he 
allows 50 grams of fat, 200 grams carbohydrates, 

102 



EATING TO LIVE 

with 150 grams albumin, or more if needed. For 
the second class — fat people, short-winded, and with 
dropsical tendencies (I suppose he mostly puts in 
this class those yet with organs fairly sound) — he 
allows 30 grams of fat daily, with 100 grams car- 
bohydrates, and considerably over 150 grams albu- 
min, — more, you see, than the first class gets. In 
this second class he gives little fluid, and not over- 
much to the first class. He thus, he says, reduces 
blood-pressure, venous stasis is lessened, and thus 
the vessels in the fatty tissue are drained, and 
nutritive changes occur here, — the fat is broken up, 
carried away, cremated, as it were. Oertel allows 
twice the amount of animal food that Ebstein does, 
double the amount of carbohydrates, and less than 
half the fat. He also allows more fat and starch 
than Banting. He allows twelve ounces of light 
wine, and as much water at dinner, a very fair 
allowance, with six ounces of bread daily. He 
allows eggs occasionally. For those who are able, 
he prescribes the " terrain cure," mountain-climb- 
ing, or golf — watching the heart, which gets 
strength as the exercise progresses. For those who 
cannot thus exercise, he prescribes massage, fric- 
tion, and baths, here still further reducing fats and 
starches. The Schweninger system is about like 
Oertel's, but he allows no drink at meals, advises 
waiting until two hours after meals to drink. He 

103 



EATING TO LIVE 

gives little bread and restricts fluids generally. 
This is probably a wise precaution. 

Germain-See says much water is necessary in 
treating corpulency. He allows meats, lean and 
fat, but no sugar or starches. His drinks are hot 
weak tea and plenty of water. He allows little 
or no alcohol. Thompson suggests that this treat- 
ment with plenty of fluids is best for gouty and 
rheumatic cases where we desire to eliminate the 
waste from the system. This, at any rate, is some 
encouragement to the gouty stout man, who so far 
has received little consideration in this matter. 

Dr. S. Weir Mitchell's system for obesity consists 
chiefly in rest, skim-milk diet, massage, and move- 
ments for passive exercise. After a fortnight he 
begins to allow a little light broth; he is careful 
to watch the condition of the heart. After six 
weeks he allows some lean meats. This treatment 
requires the abandonment of all labor, and is 
among the best of treatments to amuse while at 
the same time it relieves, and is especially applica- 
ble to women society-tired and suffering from over- 
indulgence in various forms. 

There are a number of other treatments, but they 
differ only in degree from those already mentioned. 
The principle in all is the same, — semi-starvation, 
and the end aimed at is the same, — viz., to cause 
those undergoing the treatment to oxidize and 

104 



EATING TO LIVE 

eliminate the accumulated fat and prevent its form- 
ing again. There are many quack remedies under 
various names. All are harmful and even danger- 
ous, with just knavery enough in the recommenda- 
tions accompanying them, putting those using them 
on a diet which avoids fat, starches, and sugars, to 
give them a semblance of doing effective work in 
reducing flesh. 

There is at present prevalent among society 
women and among young girls quite a fad for re- 
ducing their weight. To be slim and slender and 
willowy appears to be the point aimed at, no matter 
with what idiopathic tendencies as to fleshiness God 
has endowed them. The no-breakfast idea just 
now predominates, the no-salt idea is common, and 
the no-fluids idea is followed by many, especially 
by young women. This is all wrong, unless they 
have intelligent medical supervision, and this intel- 
ligent medical supervision should see to it that the 
heart and kidneys of these patients are thoroughly 
observed and looked after. Renal calculi may 
supervene, or gall-stones may form, and great suf- 
fering ensue, all because the elimination of waste 
has been interfered with. Nature resents such un- 
warranted interference with her laws. 

My own idea in these cases is, above all things, 
to study the individual, then arrange the diet, exer- 
cise, and the habits of life generally. Watch par- 

105 



EATING TO LIVE 

ticularly the condition of the heart, the general 
circulation, and the kidneys. Age is very impor- 
tant to consider, and so is the sex and the environ- 
ment of the patient. The gouty patient needs dif- 
ferent advice from one not so afflicted, and so does 
the patient with dropsical tendencies. Explain to 
each what his case needs. Explain the difference 
in the make-up of foods, as to oxygen, hydrogen, 
carbon, and nitrogen, and the difference between 
proteids and starches, sugars and the like, and fats, 
and the uses and tendencies of each in diet. Let all 
get intelligent advice by reading and otherwise as 
to what they shall eat and drink. 

Leanness. 
Leanness, the opposite of fatness, afflicts some 
persons, and is often so extreme as to cause humil- 
iation. The remedy is to find out the cause and 
remove it if possible. As to diet, reverse the prin- 
ciples applied to obesity. Lean people are generally 
perversely lean, and will not get fat, even when in 
perfect health. Systematic nourishment, rest, and 
forced feeding, with a complete diet, in which fats 
and carbohydrates must play a good part, can be 
recommended. Medical supervision should be em- 
ployed also. The organs and their functions should 
all be supervised, lest harm come from rest and 



forced feeding. 



106 



EATING TO LIVE 

Kissingen and Vichy Waters for Obesity. 

Dr. William T. Cathell, of Baltimore, several 
years since recommended these waters to bring 
down one's weight. Of the French Vichys, he 
recommends the Grande Grille and the imported 
Kissingen. The artificial waters we get in siphons 
appear to do as well, and so do those prepared from 
the effervescing salts of Kissingen and Vichy on 
the market. Cathell recommends a full glass of 
Kissingen a half-hour after each meal one day; 
and the next day, in the same way, a glass of 
Vichy. Keep this up from day to day. If the 
patient loses more than two pounds per week in 
weight, take a small glass, or avoid the midday 
glass. If he loses less than two pounds per week, 
add the juice of half a lemon to each glass of Kis- 
singen, or a teaspoonful of aromatic spirit of am- 
monia to each glass of Vichy. It is not necessary 
to restrict the diet, but cut down somewhat alco- 
holics, . starch, sugar, and fats, if given to con- 
suming large quantities of them. In other words, 
avoid overeating and excesses at the table. Sleep 
on an empty stomach as near as possible, so that 
some of the surplus fat may be burned up as fuel 
while the person sleeps. Take plenty of outdoor 
exercise to promote tissue oxidation. Another way 
is to take a glass of Vichy before breakfast and a 

107 



EATING TO LIVE 

glass of Kissingen at bedtime. Sipping from three 
to five glasses through the twenty-four hours is 
another way, alternating Vichy and Kissingen. 
Taking the waters may be kept up for six months 
or longer. This is said to be a revival somewhat 
of the Daucel system, giving sodium bicarbonate 
with tartaric acid and water in the effervescing 
state. There is no doubt the taking of these waters, 
curtailing somewhat the diet as to sweets and 
starches and fats, and taking plenty of outdoor ex- 
ercise, does bring down the bodily weight in many 
cases and probably is a fairly safe method. 

Climate and Diet. 

In diet, climate is a very important matter to 
take into consideration. The Eskimo needs, from 
his environment, much fat to keep up the heat 
of his body; but what would the inhabitant of the 
tropics do with blubber, as a main article of diet, 
living constantly as he does under the hot rays of 
an equatorial sun? Our soldiers in the tropics do 
not want blubber; but experience shows that we 
must still keep some fat in their ration. 

According to George Waldron, the people of 
Ireland eat more white potatoes than any other 
country, — a daily average of four pounds per per- 
son. Germany comes next, and Italy last, con- 
suming only forty-eight pounds per person per 

108 



EATING TO LIVE 

year. The United States consumes two hundred 
pounds per person per year. In wheat France 
leads the list, using four hundred and sixty-seven 
pounds per person per year. Canada comes next. 
The United States consumes two hundred and forty 
pounds per person per year. Japan uses only 
twenty-two pounds per person per year, which is 
just the amount of rye used by each person in the 
United States. Norway uses the most oats per 
person, being one hundred and twelve pounds per 
person per year. England, including Scotland and 
Ireland, uses only twelve pounds of oats per person 
per year, — very remarkable, so much of it being 
used in Scotland, and such an ideal food for the 
climate. 

In meats the United States stands at the head, 
using one hundred and forty-seven pounds per per- 
son per year. Italy uses the least, as her climate 
might indicate, — twenty-four pounds per person 
per year. The United States also uses more eggs 
than any other country per person, — one hundred 
and twenty-three per year. Of rice the United 
States uses only four pounds per person per year. 
Great Britain uses nine pounds, and the province 
of Bombay, India, uses five hundred and forty- 
seven pounds per person per year. Here we see 
how climate influences the diet. 

Of sugar Great Britain uses the most, — eighty 

109 



EATING TO LIVE 

pounds for each inhabitant per year. The United 
States uses seventy-three pounds, and Spain only 
seven pounds. In tea Great Britain leads, — about 
six pounds per person per year. We use about one 
and a half pounds per person. Russians use only 
nine ounces per person per year, and yet they are 
supposed to be a tea-drinking people. Here we see 
the condition as shown by diet, — the masses being 
too poor to drink much tea. Of coffee the Nether- 
lands use the most, over twenty-three pounds per 
person per year, whilst we in the United States use 
nearly twelve pounds and England uses only one- 
fifth of a pound. Russia uses only three ounces 
per person per year. 

In malt liquors Great Britain takes the lead, — 
thirty gallons to each person per year, actually lead- 
ing Germany by three gallons per person. We use 
eighteen gallons per person per year. In the wine- 
drinking countries comparatively little is used, 
although it is increasing in France, she now using 
six gallons per person per year. Spain uses only a 
little over one pint, but in wine consumption Spain 
leads the world, — thirty-five gallons to each person 
per year. France uses twenty-nine gallons, and 
Italy, twenty- four gallons. It is interesting to note 
that the United Kingdom uses less than two quarts 
of wine per person per year. Her climate demands 

something stronger. Surprising to say, Germany 

no 



EATING TO LIVE 

uses only a little over one gallon of wine per person 
per year. In the United States the consumption 
of wine is rapidly increasing, but it is yet only two 
quarts to each person per year, making the re- 
spectable quantity of thirty-eight million gallons. 
Russia and Great Britain and her colonies are 
among the great spirit-drinking countries, and cli- 
mate here is the great factor in determining the 
quantity consumed. Some recent statistics from 
Washington are both gratifying and surprising. 
They show that the amount of distilled liquors con- 
sumed by the people of the United States per capita 
has dropped from 2.5 to 1.48 gallons annually, but 
even now we use more ardent spirits than do the 
English, the French, or even the Russians, who, 
according to statistics, scarcely deserve the name of 
hard drinkers. It is probably not true, as claimed 
by some, that those people who consume the largest 
percentage of alcohol in either a fermented or a 
distilled form have proved most successful in the 
struggle for existence. 

Again referring to special diets for excessive 
weight, etc., it should be an invariable rule with 
those experimenting in this direction to keep them- 
selves under thorough and competent medical 
supervision. The whole system means, in compari- 
son with normal living as usually carried on, semi- 
starvation as to food and drink, and exercise more 

in 



EATING TO LIVE 

or less active, with particular attention paid to the 
idiosyncrasies of the individual. A system that 
will help one may injure another. No breakfast, 
with little water as drink, and a great reduction in 
the carbohydrates used, and an excess of proteids 
and little fats, may do for one person and be of 
great injury to another if not properly modified to 
the condition of the individual. Again, as to ex- 
ercise while undergoing a system of diet. This, as 
to its amount and kind, needs careful supervision 
by competent hands. The heart and other great 
organs may be vulnerable to excesses here. 

Diet for Consumptives. 
The cause of consumption is the tubercle bacillus. 
It is present in many persons and they do not know 
it. They are looked upon as delicate, and may 
be thus delicate ten years or more. This term of 
probation may be years before it leads to a fatal 
issue. Let the patient be exposed at any time to 
contagious surroundings and the end may rapidly 
come. For a long time he has been tuberculous, 
now he may become a consumptive. What we 
call secondary infection here supervenes. The pul- 
monary tracts become infected, the tissues break 
down, pus forms, and chills are frequent. If pos- 
sible, treatment should commence before this sec- 
ondary infection is under way. In addition to diet, 

112 



EATING TO LIVE 

the sufferer must have fresh air, sunlight, cheerful 
surroundings, rest more or less absolute, depending 
on the stage of the disease, good nerve in the 
patient, and, probably above all, good digestion. If 
the microbes have invaded the abdominal organs, 
the case is almost hopeless. Forced feeding and no 
alcohol are the great essentials. Alcohol checks 
digestion and must not be used except possibly as 
a stimulant to hold for a short time the last flicker- 
ings of life. 

The consumptive should have one good meal a 
day, and that meal should be a mid-day dinner well 
up in nitrogen, fats, carbohydrates, and fluids, with 
plenty of anything to the taste of the patient. Fruit 
should be served to him throughout the twenty- four 
hours ad libitum, and as much milk and raw eggs 
as he will eat. Remember, in feeding the yolks of 
eggs to the consumptive or to any invalid, that the 
raw yolks in some cases consume too much of the 
hydrochloric acid of the gastric juice. Reduce the 
number of eggs or stop altogether, and give more 
meat. Meats stimulate gastric digestion and there 
is less suffering from too little hydrochloric acid in 
the gastric juice. After all, " one man's meat is 
another man's poison." Some cannot eat eggs in 
any shape. 

Flick says, very properly, select food for its 
nutritive value plus the ease with which it can be 
8 113 



EATING TO LIVE 

transformed into tissue. Milk, of all foods, he de- 
clares, is the one which gives the best returns in 
nutrition for the smallest consumption of energy. 
Eggs come next to milk, and then come beef and 
mutton, and peas and beans and such vegetables 
which are high in nitrogen. The reason for the 
dinner, or meat, pea, and bean meal once a day- 
only is, that these consume much energy in their 
transformation into tissue. Milk and eggs should 
not be taken closer to the dinner than two hours 
before or after. Six raw eggs and three quarts 
of milk should be the allowance during waking 
hours. Some patients will even take more than 
this supply ; some can scarcely take as much. The 
more the better, if it be digested. 

This highly nitrogenous diet is especially impor- 
tant for consumptive persons in the East and West 
Indies and other tropical regions, where the tuber- 
cle bacillus is widespread and very fatal in its 
attacks. Although the natives live almost con- 
tinuously in the open air, they are gregarious 
and their habitations are uncleanly ; besides which, 
their diet, consisting chiefly of rice and other cere- 
als and fruits, contains very little nitrogen. Thus 
they are probably suffering from nitrogen starva- 
tion, which renders them very vulnerable to the 
attacks of the tubercle bacillus. This matter 

demands thorough study by all physicians in tropi- 

114 



EATING TO LIVE 

cal countries, and is of especial importance to army 
and navy surgeons in getting up the tropical 
rations. 

Nuts, as will be seen on reference to their nutri- 
tive value, are good food for consumptives and 
may be eaten and nibbled constantly. Pastry, pud- 
dings, cakes, and such have no place in the con- 
sumptive's diet. They break up the desire for more 
valuable foods. Dr. John F. Russell, of the New 
York Post-Graduate Hospital, claims the most 
wonderful results from large amounts of the juices 
of various fresh vegetables added to the general 
tuberculosis diet. I trust good may come from 
this investigation. 

Remember, in all of these cases competent medi- 
cal supervision is essential. With this proper 
medical supervision, with determination and good 
digestion, the majority of these cases will either 
recover or be restored to a fair condition of health. 

" Physiological Economy in Nutrition." 

This is the title of a recent work by Prof. Rus- 
sell H. Chittenden, director of the Sheffield Scien- 
tific School of Yale University. Prof. Chitten- 
den's experiments were instituted chiefly to find 
out whether or not we were eating too much of 
proteids in our daily meals, whether or not we 
were eating too much of meats, milk, eggs, and 

115 



EATING TO LIVE 

vegetables, such as beans, peas, oat meal, etc., all 
of which carry within themselves as food for man 
large percentages of the proteids, the food which 
builds up our tissues and at the same time affords 
energy, this energy, of course, being much less 
than that afforded by the sugars and starches, the 
real energy-producing foods. 

Before going further, let us look at Carl Volt's 
diet standard, the one generally accepted: For an 
adult man of average bodily weight, say one hun- 
dred and sixty pounds, doing moderate muscular 
work, he allows daily 118 grams of proteid or al- 
buminous food, of which 105 grams should be 
absorbable, 56 grams of fat, and 500 grams of 
carbohydrates, with a total fuel value of over 3000 
calories, in order to maintain the body in equi- 
librium. 

Let me take up the matter of what we may 
look upon as one-sided diets, compared with Voit's 
diet just given for an able-bodied man. Here the 
element of safety to the individual and such mat- 
ters come in. Hirschfeld, experimenting on him- 
self, maintained nitrogenous equilibrium on 7.5 
grams of nitrogen per day. He was twenty-four 
years old and weighed about one hundred and 
sixty pounds. Kumagawa, a Japanese, for nine 
days consumed 8.75 grams of nitrogen per day and 

got a plus balance of 4 grams proteid per day. His 

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EATING TO LIVE 

diet was purely vegetable, presumably most of it 
rice, as prepared by the Japanese, which, from less 
cleaning, is higher in nitrogen than our rice. 
Another Japanese study showed that on a strictly 
vegetable diet containing 11.34 grams nitrogen 
there was a daily loss to the body of 1.16 grams 
nitrogen. On adding fish to the diet, giving 17.48 
grams nitrogen, nitrogenous equilibrium was 
established. Other investigators, however, have 
found no difficulty in keeping up nitrogenous equi- 
librium on a lower amount of nitrogen in the diet. 
These examples, Chittenden remarks, surely war- 
rant the question, How far are we justified in as- 
suming the necessity for the rich proteid diet called 
for by the Voit standard? There is a constant 
temptation to increase the daily ration, and there is 
an almost universal belief in the efficacy of a rich 
and abundant diet to strengthen the body and to 
increase bodily and mental vigor. Chittenden asks 
the question, Is there any justification for these 
beliefs? He answers, None, apparently, other than 
that which comes from the customs of generations 
of high living. Voit has clearly emphasized the 
general principle that the smallest amount of pro- 
teid, with non-nitrogenous food added, that will 
suffice to keep the body in a state of continual vigor 
is the ideal diet. We know that proteid decom- 
position products are a constant menace to the 

117 



EATING TO LIVE 

well-being of the body; any quantity of meats, 
and such, beyond the real requirements may 
prove distinctly injurious. We see the evil effects 
of uric acid in gout, but there are many other 
nitrogenous waste products of proteid katabolism 
which, with excess of proteid food, are liable to be 
unduly conspicuous in the fluids and tissues of the 
body, and may do more or less damage prior to 
their excretion through the kidneys. Further, it 
requires no imagination to understand the constant 
strain upon the liver and kidneys, to say nothing 
of possible influence upon the central and periph- 
eral parts of the nervous system, by these nitrogen- 
ous waste products, which the body ordinarily gets 
rid of as speedily as possible. They are an ever- 
present evil, but why increase them unnecessarily? 
This question brings us back to the starting point, 
What is the minimal proteid requirement for the 
healthy man, or, rather, how far can we safely and 
advantageously diminish our proteid intake below 
the commonly accepted standards? The question 
of safety is a pertinent one. 

Munk found that dogs fed on low proteid diet, 
but with abundance of carbohydrates and fat, after 
several weeks showed a loss of power of absorp- 
tion from the alimentary tract, dependent not alone 
upon a changed condition of the epithelial cells of 
the intestine, but also upon a diminished secretion 

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EATING TO LIVE 

of the digestive juices, loss of body weight, 
strength, and vigor, followed speedily by death. 
If these results were really due to a low proteid 
diet, they suggest a grave danger which must not 
be lightly passed by. These dog experiments of 
Munk have been disproved by experiments on 
human beings by Albu and others. It has been sug- 
gested that when living at a fairly high proteid level 
the body is more resistant to disease and other 
strains than when the proteid level is low. There 
is another side to the question, — viz., the possible 
danger to the body from the physiological action 
of the larger amounts of nitrogenous waste prod- 
ucts which result from an excess of proteid food, 
and which float about through the system prior to 
their excretion. 

We must not overlook the great loss of energy 
to the body, Chittenden pertinently observes, in 
handling and getting rid of the surplus of unneces- 
sary food of whatever kind introduced into the 
alimentary tract, to say nothing of the danger of 
intestinal putrefaction and toxaemia when from 
any cause the system loses its ability to digest and 
absorb the excess of food consumed. Further, the 
possible strain on the kidneys and other organs 
must not be overlooked. Hence we may well 
question on which side lies the danger. To an 

unprejudiced observer, one not wedded to old- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

time tradition, it would seem as if great effort was 
being made to sustain the claim of high proteid 
intake. It is surely well to be careful, but cer- 
tainly it is not necessary to magnify imaginary 
dangers to the extent of suppressing all efforts 
towards the establishment of possible physiological 
economy. Let us study well these dangers. 

Horace Fletcher experimented on himself to re- 
store his health. He practised deliberation in eat- 
ing, thoroughly insalivated the food taken, which 
he claimed produced satiety sooner on the ingestion 
of a small amount of food, with the result of 
restoration to health. On this diet Mr. Fletcher 
could do the work of a trained athlete. With the 
Fletcher case and others like it before us, Chitten- 
den asks the question, Do we not need more exact 
knowledge of true dietary standards? Chitten- 
den's experiments were conducted as follows: 

First. A group of five men of various ages, 
connected with the university as professors and in- 
structors, men who while leading active lives were 
not engaged in very active muscular work. They 
were selected as representatives of the mental 
worker rather than the physical worker, although 
several of them in the performance of their daily 
duties had to be on their feet in the laboratory a 
good portion of the day. 

Second. A detail of thirteen men, volunteers 

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EATING TO LIVE 

from the Hospital Corps of the United States 
Army and representatives of the moderate worker, 
men who for a period of six months took each 
week-day a vigorous amount of systematic exercise 
in the gymnasium, in addition to the routine work 
connected with their daily life as members of the 
United States Hospital Corps. These men were of 
different nationalities, ages, and temperaments. 

Third. A group of eight young men, students 
in the university, all thoroughly trained athletes, 
and some of them with exceptional records in 
athletic events. 

From group one we will take only Prof. Chit- 
tenden's case and the results therefrom. His ex- 
periments with himself began in November, 1902. 
He weighed sixty-five kilos, was nearly forty-seven 
years old, and accustomed to eating daily an 
amount of food equal to the so-called dietary 
standards. As he says, recognizing that the habits 
of a lifetime should not be too suddenly changed, 
a gradual reduction was made in the amount of 
proteid or albuminous food taken daily. For a 
month or two he took no breakfast, except a small 
cup of coffee. Light lunch at 1.30 p.m. and a 
heavier dinner at 6.30 p.m. Occasionally, how- 
ever, the heartier meal was taken at noon, as the 
appetite suggested. The total intake of food was 

gradually diminished, as well as the proteid con- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

stituents. There was no change, though, to a vege- 
table diet, but a simple introduction of physio- 
logical economy. Still, there was and is now a 
distinct tendency toward the exclusion of meat in 
some measure, the appetite not calling for this 
form of food in the same degree as formerly. At 
first this change to a smaller amount of food daily 
was attended with some discomfort, but this soon 
passed away, and his interest in the subject was 
augmented by the discovery that he was unques- 
tionably in improved physical condition. A rheu- 
matic trouble in the knee-joint which had persisted 
for eighteen months entirely disappeared and has 
not returned. Sick headaches and bilious attacks, 
to which he had been subject, no longer appeared 
periodically, as before. There was greater appre- 
ciation of such food as was eaten; a keener appe- 
tite and more acute taste seemed to be developed, 
with a more thorough liking for simple foods. By 
June, 1903, the body weight had fallen to fifty- 
eight kilos. Remember, it was sixty-five kilos at 
the beginning. Prof. Chittenden goes on to say: 
" During the summer the same simple diet was per- 
sisted in, — a small cup of coffee for breakfast, a 
fairly substantial dinner at mid-day, and a light 
supper at night." 

Two months were spent in Maine, at an inland 

fishing-resort, and during a part of this time a 

122 



EATING TO LIVE 

guide was dispensed with and a boat was rowed by 
Prof. Chittenden six to ten miles in the forenoon, 
against head winds (sometimes without break- 
fast), and with much greater freedom from fatigue 
and muscular soreness than in previous years on a 
fuller dietary. He argues that a hearty meal 
before starting work in the morning is unneces- 
sary. It is more rational to take the hearty meal 
after work. Energy does not come from the food 
soon after it is swallowed, but from the absorbed 
material stored up in the muscles and which was 
digested and absorbed a day or two before. 

Here Prof. Chittenden is arguing for his no- 
breakfast idea, and claims that both mental and 
physical work is easier when following it. He 
further argues that upon a restricted diet, espe- 
cially of proteid foods, there should be a dimin- 
ished sense of fatigue in connection with vigorous 
or continued muscular work, and at the same 
time there should be an increased power of en- 
durance, with actual increase of strength. De- 
crease the proteid food and we decrease the forma- 
tion of the crystalline nitrogenous waste products, 
such as uric acid, etc., which, circulating through 
the system, cause fatigue. Another reason why 
we may cut down the meats, etc., in our diet is that 
it is very well accepted now that the energy of 
muscular contraction comes from the oxidation of 

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EATING TO LIVE 

the non-nitrogenous components of the tissues and 
not from the oxidation of the nitrogenous con- 
stituents of the muscles. 

In the fall of 1903 Prof. Chittenden returned 
from Maine to New Haven with no change in 
body weight. His body had apparently adjusted 
itself to its new conditions. 

Let us continue Prof. Chittenden's story, pretty 
much in his own words and made up from his 
own tables of daily examinations. During the nine 
months the body weight was practically constant. 
The daily volume of urine was exceptionally small, 
scarcely one pint. Urine was never turbid, as was 
often the case on unrestricted diet. This condition 
. made much less work for the kidneys. Specific 
gravity of urine ruled rather high, averaging prob- 
ably 1027. This was due probably to the small 
amount of the fluid. He does not give us the 
amount of fluids he was accustomed to take. The 
uric acid output was small. On average diet the 
average adult must metabolize each day 16 grams 
of nitrogen. Chittenden's average was, as indi- 
cated by the urine, only 5.699 grams. The last 
three months of the experiment it was only 5.40 
grams. On the whole, the amount was quite uni- 
form. He never weighed his food except for 
special tests. The greatest possible variety of 

foods was indulged in ; the dictates of the appetite 

124 



EATING TO LIVE 

were followed and only excesses avoided. It was 
only temperance in diet and not prohibition. 

Now as to the amount of proteid material me- 
tabolized each day. Voit's standard calls for 118 
grams, of which 105 grams should be absorbable 
in order to maintain the body in a condition of 
nitrogen equilibrium and in a state of vigor and 
general tone. This would mean a daily excretion 
through the urine of at least 16 grams of nitrogen. 
Chittenden's daily output through the urine was, 
on the average, only 5.699. This means only 35.6 
grams of proteid metabolized, or about one-third 
the amount called for by Voit's standard. Further 
examinations showed that during the nine months 
of the experiment Chittenden's body was in a state 
of nitrogenous equilibrium. Indeed, there was a 
slight plus balance. During this time Prof. Chit- 
tenden's consumption of proteid food was only 
about one-third the usual amount thought neces- 
sary for the average man. 

The average daily fuel value of his food was 
only about 1549 calories, the usual average of an 
average man of his surroundings being 3000 
calories or more. Prof. Chittenden says, of course 
the low fuel value of his food would not meet the 
requirement of a man of more active life, with 
greater physical labor. His life was active, but 
more mentally than physically, although he exer- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

cised as much as most men who do professional 
work and who do not engage in athletics. 

To accomplish this result no special form of diet 
is absolutely necessary. Personal likes and dis- 
likes must enter into the choice of any diet, and 
freedom of choice, freedom to follow the dictates 
of one's appetite, with such regulation as comes 
from the use of reason and intelligence, are all 
that is necessary to secure the desired end. Phys- 
iological economy in nutrition is easily attainable 
without the adoption of vegetarianism. 

Temperance and simplicity in diet must be the 
rule. This soon becomes a habit, and the method 
becomes easy of execution in almost any given case. 
Health, strength, and mental and physical vigor 
will be maintained. Greater freedom from fatigue, 
greater aptitude for work, greater freedom from 
minor ailments will come to one with lowered pro- 
teid metabolism and general condition of physio- 
logical economy. 

Prof. Chittenden says he watched his condition 
closely throughout the experiment for every sign 
and symptom that might be unfavorable, and ended 
it with the full assurance that much good is to be 
gained by the adoption of dietetic habits that ac- 
cord more closely with the true physiological needs 
of the body. He feels no desire to return to the 
more liberal dietetic habits of former years. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Composition of some of Prof. Chittenden's Meals. 
March 20, 1904. 

Breakfast, 7.45 a.m. — One cup of coffee, 137.5 
grams; cream, 30.5 grams; sugar, 9 grams. 

Dinner, 1.30 p.m. — Stewed chicken, 50 grams 
(less than 2 ounces) ; mashed potato, 131 grams; 
biscuit, 40 grams; butter, 13 grams; chocolate 
pudding, 106 grams; one small cup of coffee; 
sugar, 12 grams; cheese crackers, 29 grams. 

Supper, 6.30 p.m. — Lettuce sandwiches, 56 
grams; biscuit, 35 grams; butter, 6 grams; one 
cup of tea; sugar, 7 grams; sponge cake, 47 
grams ; sliced oranges, 82 grams. 

Fuel value of this food, 1708 calories. 

March 21, 1904. 

Breakfast, 7.45 a.m. — Coffee, 119 grams; sugar, 
9 grams; cream, 30 grams. 

Lunch, 1.30 p.m. — One shredded wheat biscuit, 
31 grams; cream, 116 grams; wheat gems, 33 
grams; butter, 7 grams; cup of tea; sugar, 10 
grams ; cream cake, 53 grams. 

Dinner. — Pea soup, 114 grams; lamb chop, 24 

grams (less than one ounce Troy) ; boiled sweet 

potato, 47 grams ; wheat gems, 76 grams ; butter, 

13 grams; cream cake, 52 grams; cup of coffee; 

sugar, 10 grams; cheese crackers, 16 grams. 

127 



EATING TO LIVE 

March 23, 1904. 

Breakfast, 7.45 a.m. — Coffee, 103 grams; 
cream, 30 grams; sugar, 10 grams. 

Lunch, 1.30 p.m. — Creamed codfish, 64 grams; 
potato balls, 54 grams; biscuit, 44 grams; butter, 
22 grams; tea, 120 grams; sugar, 10 grams; wheat 
griddle cakes, 133 grams; maple syrup, 108 grams. 

Dinner, 6.30 p.m. — Creamed potato, 85 grams; 
biscuit, 53 grams; butter, 15 grams; apple-celery- 
lettuce salad, 50 grams; apple pie, 127 grams; 
coffee, 6y grams ; sugar, 8 grams ; cheese crackers, 
17 grams. 

Fuel value of food, 1454 calories. 

June 27, 1904. 

Breakfast. — Coffee, 112 grams; cream, 22 
grams; sugar, 10 grams. 

Lunch. — Roast lamb, 9 grams; baked potato, 
90 grams; wheat gems, 47 grams; butter, 12 
grams; sugar, 25 grams; iced tea, 250 grams; 
vanilla eclair, 47 grams. 

Dinner. — Lamb chop, 32 grams; asparagus, 49 

grams; butter, 17 grams; creamed potato, 107 

grams; bread, 35 grams; lettuce-orange salad, 

with mayonnaise dressing, 150 grams; cream 

cheese, 12 grams; crackers, 21 grams; coffee, 63 

grams; sugar, 9 grams. 

Fuel value of the food, 1984 calories. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

These are merely given as specimen meals and 
were weighed out while undergoing special tests 
during the experiment. There appears to be a 
good variety, but viewed by the average eater 
would seem to be quite lacking in quantity. Prof. 
Chittenden remarks, you remember: Commence to 
live on them and they soon come to fully satisfy 
your cravings. Living thus, you rise from the 
table not dull and oppressed, but feeling good and 
ready for work. 

The next group in Prof. Chittenden's experi- 
ments was group two, — thirteen volunteers from 
the Hospital Corps, United States Army. Before 
coming to New Haven these men were representa- 
tives of the moderate worker. They worked for 
six months in the gymnasium, daily except Sun- 
days, and did the usual amount of work besides as 
members of their corps. They ranged in age from 
twenty-one to forty-three years, and were of 
different nationalities. 

These men arose at 6.45 a.m. and were weighed; 
7.15, breakfast. Until 9 a.m. they were engaged 
at various duties; 9 to 11 a.m., gymnasium work; 
12 M., dinner; 1 p.m., drill or a walk; 2 p.m., relief 
from drill, etc.; 2.30 p.m., instruction in duties as 
nurses, etc.; 3.30 p.m., relief from instruction; 
5 p.m., supper; 5.30 p.m., retreat roll-call; 10 p.m., 
all men in bed. Saturdays, drill and instruction 
9 129 



EATING TO LIVE 

omitted in afternoon. Sundays, no gymnasium 
work. There were some additional duties from 
day vto day. Surely these men put in a pretty full 
day of fairly hard and continuous work and this 
was kept up for six months. 

Careful details of the work and the results on 
the men were made and kept, just as in Prof. 
Chittenden's case. The results were equally as- 
suring as they were in his case, — viz., the ability 
to live and thrive on the lower nitrogen intake. 

Here is a resume of the report of Dr. William 
G. Anderson, director of the Yale University gym- 
nasium : 

The members of the squad were called to the 
floor each morning as soon after 9.30 as possible. 
For twenty minutes they were put through a series 
of setting-up exercises and body-building move- 
ments; then followed exercises on the apparatus, 
such as bars, rings, ladders, etc. The exercises 
were progressive as to duration, force, extent, and 
number of movements. At the end of six months 
the men were being put through gymnastics that 
were exacting and fatiguing. As the progress was 
carefully made, the men did not suffer from sore- 
ness to any marked degree. They gained in accu- 
racy and grace of movement, and in skill and 
courage as well. There was some loss of weight, 
but this was looked for, as some of the men were 

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EATING TO LIVE 

overweight when they commenced. The oldest 
man lost the most. 

At the end of the six months the hearts and lungs 
of the men were in good shape, and as a body the 
men were in better shape at the end than when 
they commenced, and this on a diet heretofore 
thought impossible, for men engaged as these were, 
to thrive on. 

Three months after they had left New Haven 
and gone to St. Louis for other duty, they wrote 
to Prof. Chittenden, saying they were then in first- 
class condition, were eating very little meat, and 
were willing to undertake another test. 

These men ate the regular three meals a day of 
the laboring man, — breakfast, dinner and supper. 

January 14, 1904. 

Breakfast. — Boiled hominy, 150 grams; milk, 
125 grams; sugar, 30 grams; butter, 10 grams; 
bread, 30 grams ; coffee, one cup. 

Dinner. — Split pea soup (thick), 200 grams; 
bread, 75 grams; mashed potatoes, 100 grams; 
pickles, 30 grams; coffee, one cup; pie, 120 grams. 

Supper. — Suet pudding, 1 50 grams ; apple sauce, 
125 grams; crackers, 25 grams; tea, one cup. 

Total nitrogen, 7.412 grams. Fuel value, 2000 
calories. 

This, it will be seen, is quite a light diet as ordi- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

narily viewed. It is a fair specimen of the daily 
diet for six months, some being a little higher and 
some a little lower. 

Now let us take up group three, — eight young 
college athletes, under observation for five months. 
These men had been accustomed to take large 
amounts of proteid food daily. They came to the 
diet used in this experiment gradually. The old 
idea of training has been to take plenty of meat or 
grow soft. 

Not to further consume time in this matter, let 

us give a specimen or two of the daily food of these 

athletes in training, and thus prove that men in 

training do not grow soft on small amounts of 

meat diet. This was prescribed diet as to quality, 

but not as to quantity. The men took what they 

wanted as to variety and quantity, and satisfied 

their appetites. 

June n, 1904. 

Breakfast. — Orange, boiled Indian meal, cream, 
sugar, baked potato, rolls, butter, coffee. 

Lunch. — Barley broth, corn fritters, mashed po- 
tato, two slices bacon, bread, butter, stewed toma- 
toes, strawberries, cream, coffee. 

Dinner. — Bean puree, scrambled eggs, rice cro- 
quettes, French fried potatoes, lettuce-orange salad, 
stewed prunes, bread, butter, farina pudding, 

coffee. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

These meals are not strong in proteids. 
Here is the prescribed diet of one of the men 
for a day: 

May 19, T 904. 

Breakfast. — Banana, 170 grams; cream, 140 
grams; sugar, 28 grams; coffee, 150 grams; 
baked potato, 127 grams; rolls, 47 grams; butter, 
15 grams. 

Lunch. — Bread, 50 grams; butter, 18 grams; 
fried potato, 1 50 grams ; fried hominy, 1 50 grams ; 
syrup, 48 grams; coffee, 150 grams; cream, 50 
grams; sugar, 14 grams. 

Dinner. — Soup, 200 grams; fried sweet potato, 
70 grams; macaroni, 125 grams; spinach, 105 
grams; bacon, 13 grams; butter, 15 grams; 
coffee, 150 grams; sugar, 14 grams; cream, 40 
grams. 

Here is Prof. Chittenden's conclusion from 
the result of his experiments on the twenty-six 
men: 

The idea is that a man weighing one hundred 
and seventy-five pounds and doing average work 
must have 20 grams nitrogen and 300 grams car- 
bon per day, and must eat the food to get it. Chit- 
tenden's twenty-six men, whose course we have 
been following, did well on one-half, one-third, and 
even one-fourth this 20 grams of nitrogen per day. 
Their nitrogenous equilibrium was easily main- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

tained, and there was great gain in their physical 
strength. 

Physiological economy, as Chittenden defines it, 
is not prohibition, but temperance. Moderation in 
diet, especially in the eating of meats and eggs and 
such, means a great saving of the wear and tear 
of the body machinery. It means greater freedom 
from many diseases in which the liver and kidneys 
are involved. We will have a reduced formation 
of uric acid, or, at least, less will pass out through 
the kidneys. These experiments of Prof. Chitten- 
den and those working with him are of the greatest 
importance, and his book should be read and 
studied by all who have an interest in proper living 
as regards our daily food. Probably few will 
follow them literally. This will not be necessary. 
He only points the way to what can be accom- 
plished by paying some attention, at least some 
proper attention, to our appetites and our demands 
for food. The average man and the average 
woman eat without any regard to consequences, — 
consequences that may be of the gravest import to 
their health and happiness and usefulness in the 
world. These experiments show how much better 
it is to eat to live rather than to live to eat. 

It is difficult to get the young and vigorous and 
healthy to adopt any course of dietetics other than 
that dictated by their appetites, normal or stimu- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

lated in various ways. Would that man would 
think of such matters before the shoe begins to 
pineh, before he becomes a victim to overindulgence 
at the table, and especially overindulgence in meats 
and other proteid foods! Really these are, in the 
healthy digestive organs, more easily digested than 
the carbohydrates, but their excessive use probably 
does much more harm. I think I fully appreciate 
the horrors and the misery and the premature 
deaths coming from the abuse of alcohol in its 
various guises, but I honestly doubt whether the 
army of unfortunates following in the wake of this 
fell destroyer of mankind will outnumber the army 
of unfortunates who have marched, who are 
marching, and who will march to premature graves 
through thoughtless, ignorant, perverse, and un- 
necessary errors in the selection and choosing of 
the food they eat, both as to its quantity and to its 
quality, but in a very much greater degree as to 
its quantity. 

Let us compare some of Prof. Chittenden's meals 
with those used by the average man in his daily 
living. Take a man doing about the same work as 
Prof. Chittenden does as a college professor. This 
man might take as follows : 

Breakfast. — Oatmeal, about 2 tablespoonfuls ; 
milk, 4 tablespoonfuls ; sugar, half an ounce ; bacon, 
2 ounces; one egg, soft boiled; baked potato, % 

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EATING TO LIVE 

pound ; hot cakes, 2 ounces ; maple syrup, 1 ounce ; 
bread, 2 ounces ; butter, 2 ounces, and a small cup 
of coffee. 

Lunch. — Chicken, 2 ounces; stewed onions, 1 
ounce; egg and bread together, 1 ounce; lettuce, 
2 ounces; butter, yi ounce; sweet cake, ij4 
ounces; strawberries, J4 pound; chocolate, with 
milk, etc., yi ounce. 

Dinner. — Clear soup, 4 ounces; roast lamb, 
about y% pound ; white potatoes, 34 pound ; cucum- 
bers, % pound ; green peas, y pound ; macaroni, 
1 ounce; cheese, 1 ounce; pudding, about J/£ 
pound ; bread, 1 y 2 ounces ; butter, a small portion ; 
a small cup of black coffee. 

This diet for such a man for a day, as calculated 
by the United States Department of Agriculture, 
would give him 3615 calories of fuel value and 
.270 pound of protein. It would cost him, at pres- 
ent prices, about fifty cents. 

Under the same conditions Prof. Chittenden's 
diet would have given him about 1700 calories fuel 
value and much less protein, and would have cost 
a much smaller amount than the average diet given 
to the ordinary man. 

Thus we see it is not as much in quality as it is 
in quantity that we must watch our diet. It de- 
pends, as a rule, not so much on what we eat as 
on the quantity we eat. A man may make a pig 

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EATING TO LIVE 

of himself just as well on an exclusive milk diet 
as he may on an omnivorous diet. Do not overtax 
the digestive organs, either as to proteids, carbo- 
hydrates, or fats. Practise moderation in all as to 
eating. If one wishes to cut down the amount of 
food heretofore eaten — that is, if he wishes to re- 
duce his diet — begin to eat slowly and deliberately. 
Do not hurry or bolt your food. For a few days 
always leave the table feeling yet a little hungry, 
feeling that you could eat more. In thirty minutes 
this feeling of the desire for more food will vanish, 
and you will feel full satiety and at the same time 
feel fresher and much lighter than you have felt 
formerly under what really has been an excess of 
food beyond the body requirements. I have no 
doubt that Prof. Chittenden found this to be a fact 
in his case, and I personally have found it to be a 
fact in my own case. 

Let me give the United States army ration for 
a soldier on duty, so we may compare it with the 
Chittenden daily rations : Fresh beef, i pound 4 
ounces, or mutton, 1 pound 4 ounces, or bacon, 12 
ounces, or canned meat, 2 pounds, or dried fish, 14 
ounces, or pickled fish, 1 pound 2 ounces, or canned 
fish, 1 pound ; flour, 1 pound 2 ounces ; soft bread, 
1 pound 2 ounces, or hard bread, 1 pound, or corn 
meal, 1 pound 4 ounces ; beans or peas, 2 2 /$ ounces, 
or rice, 1^5 ounces; potatoes and onions (potatoes 

137 



EATING TO LIVE 

80 per cent.), 12^5 ounces; canned tomatoes, 3^ 
ounces; fresh vegetables, 4^ ounces; dried fruit, 
i}i ounces; green coffee, i}i ounces; tea, 8 / 25 
ounce; sugar, 33/5 ounces; in the tropics and in 
Alaska rations are changed to meet climatic condi- 
tions. In the tropics, more rice and fewer potatoes, 
etc. In Alaska, more fat and more nitrogenous 
foods, etc. 

SOME MUCH-USED FOODS. 

Milk. 

Milk is the support of man in his infancy and is 
his last resort if toothless old age overtakes him. 
Milk is really a complete food, and its indiscrimi- 
nate use as a beverage by those who already eat a 
full supply of regulation diet is to be condemned 
as superfluous. When used properly by sick or 
well, under the guidance of proper medical advice, 
there is nothing to equal it, and no tonic devised 
by man, as tonics are understood, can in any way 
approach milk ; but as a tonic milk cannot be used 
alone. Matured man cannot live and thrive on 
milk alone; something else must accompany it in 
the ration. If he lives on milk alone he soon gets 
tired of the monotony, and for a good reason. It 
takes nine pints of cow's milk, at a specific gravity 
of 1030 or over, to give him the twenty- three 
ounces of dry food needed for his daily allowance; 

138 



EATING TO LIVE 

and while taking this quantity he gets too much 
albumin, fats, and water, for he does not require 
so great an amount. This is all right for the grow- 
ing infant. It needs more of these, and can live 
on milk alone for a considerable time ; but it should 
drink some sterilized water in addition — an im- 
portant matter very often overlooked — otherwise 
it becomes dyspeptic, wretched, and cross. I say 
sterilized water, for it is safer, and the water of the 
milk, with its salts, keeps intact the cell protoplasm, 
if sterilized or distilled water will not accomplish 
this, or even injures it. The life of an ordinary 
man might be supported for some time on three 
pints of milk each twenty-four hours, but it would 
take nine pints or more for a full ration. 

The chemical composition of milk is as follows : 

Whole Cows' Milk. — Water, 87.0; proteids, 3.3 ; 
fat, 4.0; carbohydrates, 5.0; ash, .7. Fuel value 
per pound, 310 calories. 

Skim Milk. — Water, 90.5; proteids, 3.4; fat, .3; 
carbohydrates, 5.1 ; ash, .7. Fuel value per pound, 
165 calories. 

Buttermilk. — Water, 91.0; proteids, 3.0; fat, .5; 
carbohydrates, 4.8 ; ash, .7. Fuel value per pound, 
160 calories. 

Condensed Milk. — Water, 26.9; proteids, 8.8; 
fat, 8.3; carbohydrates, 54.1; ash, 1.9. Fuel 
value per pound, 1430 calories. Here most of the 

139 



EATING TO LIVE 

water is driven off in the condensing and much 
sugar is added. 

Lactose, or milk sugar, is an important ingre- 
dient in milk. It is equal, usually, to half the solids 
of the milk, leaving out the fats. It sours the milk 
by being converted into lactic acid during the fer- 
mentation of the milk, caused by nitrogenous mate- 
rials in it. Milk is an ideal host for pathogenic 
germs, and when we come to think of their univer- 
sal presence, under all circumstances and at all 
times, we soon see how it is impossible to guard 
too closely and too jealously all that pertains to 
this universal nourishment of man. 

Sterilizing and pasteurizing milk will destroy 
the germs in it. To sterilize milk bring it to the 
boiling point, 212 Fahrenheit. To destroy the 
spores absolutely and surely, bring it to the boiling 
point a second time. To keep it, put it in bottles, 
being sure first to sterilize the bottles by boiling 
them, starting them in cold water; after this gets 
to boiling, keep it up twenty minutes. Stop the 
milk bottles with sterilized cotton, not with a solid 
cork. The cotton allows escape from within and 
checks the entrance of microbes from without. If 
milk is boiled twenty minutes, it will digest better 
than milk merely sterilized. Sterilizing milk de- 
stroys the amylolytic ferment, checks the coagu- 
lating of the casein by rennin, retards the digestion 

140 



EATING TO LIVE 

of the casein, and checks somewhat the absorption 
of the fat, and, if the boiling is prolonged, the 
lactose is destroyed more or less. It takes more 
sterilized milk to nourish an infant than it does of 
fresh milk. 

To pasteurize milk, raise it to 170 Fahrenheit 
and keep it there twenty minutes. This digests 
more easily than sterilized milk and is more pala- 
table. It does not keep quite so well. 

Milk varies greatly as to the breed of the cow. 
The English Channel cattle furnish the richest 
milk. A quart of milk contains about four ounces 
of nutriment and is equal to three-fourths of a 
pound of beef. It is also equal to about six ounces 
of bread. 

Condensed milk should be sterile when opened. 
It should never be kept in a tin can after it has 
been opened, nor should any other canned stuff. 
Condensing reduces the bulk of the milk about 
three-fourths. About 40 per cent, of cane sugar 
is added to the milk, and for this reason it does not 
keep well and is more apt to cause fermentative 
troubles in those using it. When you want an 
excess of fat, add olive oil. 

Devonshire cream is cream skimmed from 

heated milk, so the albumin is coagulated and 

comes off with the cream. 

Evaporated milk is milk from which the water 

141 



EATING TO LIVE 

has been driven off by heat and is for immediate 
use. 

Buttermilk is milk from which the fat has been 
removed for butter. There is albumin and casein 
left in it, and water and the milk salts and lactic 
acid. Neither skim milk nor buttermilk will alone 
support life beyond a reasonable time. 

Cottage cheese — Schmierkase, or smear case — 
is a very inviting food, especially in hot weather. 
It is high in protein, low in fat, with much lactic 
acid formed from the sugar as fermentation 
goes on. 

Whey is a useful product. It contains water, 
milk salts, some albumin, and lactose or milk sugar. 
It does not keep long. It should be sterilized 
before using, which may coagulate some of the 
albumin. 

Applying heat in any way to milk destroys its 
freshness and deteriorates its nutritive power. No 
animal, from man down, will thrive as well on 
cooked milk as on raw milk. A child may get in- 
fantile scurvy from cooked milk as a steady diet, 
from raw milk never. So it is necessary to watch 
this cooking of milk, especially for children, for we 
must often cook it to destroy pathogenic germs. 

As said when speaking of diets for children, 
watch your milk supply closely. Have that fur- 
nished you scientifically examined frequently. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Watch out for anti ferments, coloring matters, etc. 
A proper amount of butter fats must always be 
looked after. The care and housing of the cows, 
and the care of the milk and vessels and water 
supply must be attended to. 

Bulletin No. 42, United States Department of 
Agriculture, by R. A. Pearson, B.S., is a valuable 
publication, and I have availed myself of its use 
here. 

The milch cows in this country are worth four 
hundred millions of dollars or more. There is a 
cow to every four people, but much of the product 
is exported as butter, cheese, and condensed milk. 
The average consumption of milk per inhabitant in 
this country is one-half pint per day. 

Under the microscope milk is a clear fluid, with 
many minute globules of various sizes. The glob- 
ules are pure fat and form with the serum an emul- 
sion. The solid constituents of the serum are mostly 
sugar and casein. There is some albumin, fibrin, 
and mineral matter. Of the solids, sugar exceeds ; 
milk sugar is not so sweet as cane sugar. The fat 
globules are very small, a drop containing many 
millions. The casein and albumin are the nitrog- 
enous constituents. Acid or rennet coagulates 
casein and forms curd. The mineral matters are 
phosphates and chlorides of soda, potash, and lime. 
One hundred pounds of good milk should hold 87 

143 



EATING TO LIVE 

pounds of water, 4 pounds of fat, 5 pounds of milk 
sugar, 3.3 pounds of casein and albumin, and .7 
pound of salts. The solids vary from ten to eigh- 
teen parts in one hundred. The solids denote the 
grade of the milk. 

You can now buy graded milk of the dealers. 
Buy it on a physician's prescription, if you choose. 
Remember, skim milk has much food value, — the 
fats only are removed. What is left has all value 
as a tissue-former, for the making of blood and 
muscle and bone, and half the value of unskimmed 
milk for force-producing. 

Let me give a recipe for koumiss as made from 
cows' milk. It is a refreshing and often useful 
food. It contains, after twenty-four hours' fer- 
mentation, alcohol, about 18 per cent.; milk sugar, 
15; fat, 20; salts, 4; lactic acid, 5; albumin, 23; 
carbonic acid, 7, etc. To make it from cow's milk, 
take one quart of new milk, one-third of a com- 
pressed yeast cake, or a dessertspoonful of fluid 
yeast, one heaped tablespoonful of pulverized 
sugar. Mix and warm this, put in a champagne 
bottle, and tie the cork down. Do not use a thin 
bottle ; it will burst, and may cut you. Ten hours' 
standing, at a heat of 90 ° Fahrenheit, will ripen it, 
and it is then ready for use. A patent-stopper beer- 
bottle is a proper bottle to make a pint in. Keep 

on ice or in a cold place. 

144 



EATING TO LIVE 

Bread. 

Here is the " staff of life," without which in 
some form it is almost impossible, for civilized 
man, at least, to exist. According to experiments 
made by the United States Department of Agri- 
culture, bread made from whole-wheat flour con- 
tains a little more protein than bread made from 
ordinary flour. Rye bread contains less protein 
than wheat bread, and corn bread contains less pro- 
tein than rye bread. Rye, barley, and oats contain 
less gluten, or the nitrogenous part of grain, than 
wheat, and Indian corn has no gluten; therefore 
wheat is the cheapest food. As to cheapness, high- 
grade white flour is cheaper than the so-called 
Graham or whole-wheat flours. Graham flour may 
give more mineral matter, but is not so digestible, 
as the bran, etc., in it appears to cover up the par- 
ticles that otherwise would be digested. One thing 
these coarse particles may do, they may check con- 
stipation of the bowels somewhat by their mechani- 
cal action on the coat of the bowels. The superior 
mechanical condition of the high-grade white flours 
makes them more thoroughly digestible than the 
Graham and other coarse flours. All flours are 
wholesome and nutritious foods, and so are corn 
meal, oat meal, and such. 

As a rule, bread is raised by causing the yeast 
plant to develop in it. So-called aerated bread is 

io 145 



EATING TO LIVE 

also made by forcing carbonic acid gas into it. 
The latter plan has its merits, but the yeast-raised 
bread is preferable. To be good and palatable, 
bread must be light and sweet, and great care must 
be used in making the dough, raising it, baking it, 
and keeping it. Heavy bread is bad, dangerous 
food, and the cause of much misery and suffering, 
for it is far too common in the household. 

Recently the Japanese have been mixing some 
wheat porridge to be used with the army rice 
ration, and the soldiers are doing better on it. One 
object in this change was to check the advance of 
the disease known as beri-beri, which has been at- 
tributed in a measure to too much rice in the diet 
of Eastern nations, where the trouble is endemic, 
and is characterized by anaemia, dropsy of the ab- 
domen, difficulty of breathing, pain in and paralysis 
of the lower limbs. The Japanese have two 
kinds of wheat bread, "pan," or white, and 
" kuropan," or brown bread. The soldiers prefer 
the " pan." 

As between white bread and brown bread, all 
experiments now point to white bread as the most 
desirable for man. One may enjoy the taste of 
brown bread more, and it may have some mechani- 
cal effect in moving the bowels. These are about 
all of its advantages over white bread. 

There is quite a rage now, especially among those 

146 



EATING TO LIVE 

who are trying to reduce their fat, for twice- 
baked bread, toasted bread, and over-toasted bread. 
This twice-baked bread approaches very near to 
the well-known German Zwieback, and is quite 
palatable and nutritious, and, if eaten in moderate 
quantity, one may appease the appetite for bread 
and find it much less fattening than ordinary bread, 
and very much less likely to cause fermentation 
during digestion. To prepare this twice-baked 
bread, cut thin slices from a loaf baked at least 
twenty- four hours before, place them in a pan, and 
subject them to the heat of a quick, hot oven for 
from twenty to thirty minutes. 

In making toast, what happens? The toasting 
destroys all yeast germs and other germs which 
may be in the bread, and thus the toast is sterile; 
surely a great advantage. The starch in the bread 
must, of course, be converted into sugar before it 
can be assimilated. The toasting does this in part. 
Carry the toasting still further, and we convert the 
starch into dextrin, a gummy substance. Carry it 
still further, we get the dark brown and even black 
toast, the sugar being caramelized and the flavor 
improved. Steam the toast and you further dex- 
trinize the starch. Butter it lightly, and you make 
it more digestible by diffusing it, as it were, and 
the saliva acts better on it in first starting starchy 
digestion, which is continued after swallowing by 

147 



EATING TO LIVE 

the amylopsin in the pancreatic juice and diastase 
in the intestinal juices, with some other digestive 
substances. After all, the reason that toast is more 
digestible than untoasted bread is due much to the 
mechanical condition of the toast. In masticating, 
it does not pack, as bread will do. 

Here is another digestible bread: Take light 
dough, roll it very thin, cut it into strips, roll it 
into hollow cylinders, and bake it very quick and 
dry. These cylinders are very digestible, much like 
toast. 

Bread twenty-four hours old is probably most 
digestible. Before that it packs in mastication, and 
when older it loses its palatability by the loss of 
water, etc. 

Crackers are not, as a rule, very digestible, 
because they are baked as very dry dough, not 
much water being added, and thus the starch gran- 
ules are not well broken up and the cracker is more 
difficult to digest. To be digestible, all starches 
must be well cooked, with sufficient water to soften 
the granules and break up the cell structure. 

Pretzels are superior to crackers as an article of 
diet, because the dough is here first boiled well, 
which breaks up the starch, and then thoroughly 
baked. There is generally too much salt about 
them, for the carrying of which, it is said, they 
were invented, to make the lounger drink two 

148 






EATING TO LIVE 

glasses of beer when otherwise one would have 
sufficed. This doubtless is a libel on Boniface. 

As to hot bread at meals, the custom is all 
wrong; it is a breeder of all forms of dyspepsia 
and other horrors. 

As a rule, the American breakfast is too heavy; 
the English breakfast, with its hot muffins, bacon 
and eggs, and jam, is no better. The breakfasts 
of Eastern Europe are too strong, especially in 
nitrogen. The model breakfast is the French, with 
its roll and cafe au lait. Even the dejeuner a la 
fourchette is an artistic meal and usually within the 
bounds of moderation. 

Dr. Wiley and others, of the Agricultural De- 
partment at Washington, have done good work on 
eggs, and I avail myself of some of the results. 
Yolk of eggs contains " lecithin," of recent dis- 
covery. Chemically, it is a fat in which phos- 
phorus has replaced part of the hydrogen. There 
is much lecithin in egg yolk, and some in seeds, 
where it furnishes material for the growth of the 
embryo plant. In the egg it helps to develop the 
chick before hatching. Lecithin exists wherever 
food is stored for the embryo. The phosphorus of 
the nervous system comes from it, and also that of 
the osseous system. The fertile egg contains the 

149 



EATING TO LIVE 

embryo and the food for its growth * nd for to 
development. 

There are many kinds of eggs eaten b'^ man > but 
the egg of the hen far exceeds all oth< ers - Some 
fish eggs are used. From the sturge on we S et 
caviare, and from the herring, the h< errin & r oe. 
Besides these we use as food the eggs of the tur key, 
duck, guinea, and goose. Duck eggs and & oose 
eggs have most fat. The eggs of the P Iover are 
said to be the most delicate and are a ra re treat - 

Composition of Hens' Eggs (United States De- 
partment of Agriculture). 
Edible portion, water, y^-7 per cenf ; P rotei ds, 
I 3A; fat, 10.5; ash, 1.0. Fuel value P er P°und, 
720 calories. White alone, water, 86 J' P r °teids, 
12.3; fat, .2; ash, .6. Fuel value per P ound > 250 
calories. Yolk alone, water, 49.5; p ro teids > l 5-7l 
fat > 33-31 ash, 1.1. Fuel value per p< Dund > l 7°° 
calories. 

The color of the shell shows little d ifference in 
food value. If there is any difference, if is in fa vor 
of the white shell. The white of egg is a com " 
pound albumin. It also contains soTp e suI P^ur. 
The albumin is easily decomposed anc 1 hydrogen 
sulphide is liberated. Phosphuretted Imogen is 
also formed, and hence the bad odor of s P°^ed 
eggs. The shells are porous, and micr^" 01 *^ 17 ^" 18 



EATING TO LIVE 

enter through these pores and cause fermentation 
and rotting of the egg. Food fed to the hens in- 
fluences the flavor of eggs. If the hen eats onions, 
the egg will have the flavor of onions, and so on. 

Hard-boiled and fried eggs digest in three and 
one-half hours, so far as stomach digestion goes. 
Soft-boiled digest in three hours. Roasted eggs in 
two and one-quarter hours. Raw eggs, not 
whipped, in two hours. Whipped, one and one- 
half hours. Eggs are usually fully digested, and 
the time of cooking varies the time of digestion 
more than it does the digestibility. 

The United States Department of Agriculture 
says that eggs are a cheap food at twelve cents per 
dozen; at sixteen cents, fairly cheap; and at 
twenty-five cents expensive food ; yet a family can 
exist cheaper on eggs at twenty-five cents per 
dozen than on beefsteak at twenty cents per pound, 
each person eating two eggs, or four ounces of 
steak. This also applies to chops and such meats. 
Bacon and dried beef would be cheaper than the 
eggs. Flavor and gratification of taste must also 
be considered. 

Desiccated eggs, egg powders, etc., are also 
sold, and Chinese broken eggs and egg substi- 
tutes. Chinese broken eggs come from China in 
bulk, emptied out of their shells. There should 
be a pure- food law to drive out all such stuff. One 

151 



EATING TO LIVE 

who values his health should have none of them. 
Eggs should be fresh always. Like virtue in a 
woman, they can brook no suspicion. Eggs are 
purin free, and this, as we shall see, is of great 
importance. Eggs have been looked upon as abso- 
lutely sterile as to pathogenic germs and as to 
their power to communicate such to man. Unfor- 
tunately, such is not really the case. Experiments 
at the United States Department of Agriculture 
show that eggs under certain conditions may cause 
illness by communicating some bacterial disease or 
some parasite. It is possible for an egg to become 
infected with micro-organisms either before or 
after it has been laid. The shell is porous and 
offers no greater resistance to micro-organisms 
which cause disease than it does to those which 
cause the egg to spoil or rot. When the egg is 
eaten raw, the micro-organisms present may be 
communicated to man and cause disease. This is 
important to know, as the use of raw eggs is grow- 
ing, particularly in special diets. Tests should be 
made as to how much heat and how long applied 
will destroy these pathogenic germs in a fresh egg. 
If a hen soils her feet with typhoid discharges from 
man, and carries them to her nest, infection might 
come to one eating the eggs raw from that nest. 
Stale eggs may cause illness resembling ptomaine 
poisoning by elaborating poisons from themselves. 

152 



EATING TO LIVE 

Eggs of worms, etc., have been found inside hens' 
eggs, also grains and seeds. The department says 
the lessons here taught are to keep the hens and 
the houses and the nests and the food and the sur- 
roundings clean. Eggs should be thoroughly- 
washed when taken from the nests. All of these 
dangers spoken of and hinted at may only be pos- 
sible. Certainly they are not probable to arise. 

Notwithstanding the general belief to the con- 
trary, experience shows five minutes' actual boiling 
to be the proper time to boil hens' eggs to make 
them most digestible. A ten minutes' boiling is 
better than three minutes. Fifteen minutes' boil- 
ing makes the yolk very digestible. The fresher 
the egg, the more digestible and more palatable 
it is. 

An analysis of hens' eggs made at the Dela- 
ware College Agricultural Experiment Station 
shows that an egg of medium size weighs 50 
grams: the shell 6 grams, the yolk 16 grams, the 
white 28 grams ; total, 50 grams. Of one hundred 
parts of the edible portion, 36.3 parts equal the 
yolk, 63.7 parts equal the white. The white con- 
sists of water, 86 per cent. ; albumin, 14 per cent. 
The yolk consists of water, 53 per cent. ; albumin, 
16 per cent.; fat, 30 per cent; salts, 1 per cent. 
The Agricultural Department at Washington 
makes the edible portion of the whole egg 14.9 

153 



EATING TO LIVE 

per cent, albumin, on the basis of the whole egg', 
32 parts in 100 represent yolk, 56 parts represent 
white; of the 32 parts yolk, 16 per cent, or 5.12, 
equal albumin; of the 56 parts white, 14 per cent., 
or 7.84, equal albumin. 

From this it will be seen that the whole egg is 
fairly high in nitrogen and the yolk has consider- 
able fat. The yolk is fairly low in nitrogen, and 
hence the yolk is lighter diet than the whole egg. 
For some reason certain persons cannot eat eggs 
at all, and with the sick they often disagree., Dur- 
' ing intestinal digestion sulphuretted hydrogen and 
ammonia are evolved and an intestinal storm 
ensues. The yolk here produces the disturbance. 
The white alone does not produce it. 

As an egg becomes old it gets lighter in weight. 
Look through a fresh egg towards the light, and it 
is homogeneous. If spoiled, it is opaque at the top, 
owing to the formation of an air-space. In salt 
and water, two ounces to the pint, a good egg will 
sink. 

To coddle an egg, put it in cold water and heat 
it up to 167 Fahrenheit, and keep it there until 
the white is cooked, say from five to seven minutes. 
The white coagulates firmly at 160 Fahrenheit and 
the yolk coagulates firmly at a lower temperature 
than the white. A coddled egg is never boiled, for 
then the heat must reach 212 Fahrenheit. 

154 



EATING TO LIVE 

THE PULSES. 

Beans, Peas, and other Legumes, as Foods. 

These foods furnished with nodules on their 
roots which have the power of absorbing nitrogen 
from the atmosphere are hence high up in nitro- 
gen and are strong tissue-building foods, — foods 
for the plough-boy, but not too much of them for 
those leading sedentary lives. The largely used 
peanut comes under this head. It is high in nitro- 
gen, yet low in carbohydrates: proteids, 19.5; car- 
bohydrates, 18.5. The soy bean is also high in 
proteids, 34, and low in carbohydrates, 33.7. This 
is important in such diseases as diabetes mellitus. 
The soy bean of Japan is still lower in carbohy- 
drates, thus showing that environment may have 
an effect on the chemical composition of such food- 
stuffs. Eaten green, they probably are very much 
lower in carbohydrates. String beans, fresh and 
green, are very low in proteids, 2.3, and also in 
carbohydrates, 7.4. This is important when we 
want a palatable green food low in proteids and 
carbohydrates. When we want a strong all-around 
food, we can take army and navy beans and get 
22.5 proteids and 59.6 carbohydrates. 

In summing up the uses of these products as 
food, the Agricultural Department says that these 
legumes fully deserve the place they now hold on 

155 



EATING TO LIVE 

our bills of fare. One or all of them are found 
in every country as staple food. They are espe- 
cially rich in protein, the nitrogenous constituent 
which forms the chief nutrient of meat, and are 
thus fitted to help out or replace meats in any 
dietary. Their price is low, and as vegetable foods 
they come next in importance to breads. None of 
them make palatable bread. Care in their prep- 
aration and in their cooking is of great import- 
ance, at once in regard to their digestibility, to 
their flavor, and to the pleasure derived from 
eating them. 

Let us touch briefly on some other vegetable 
foods. Macaroni, as we buy it in this country, is 
of about the same composition as wheat flour. 
I have not been able to find macaroni high in glu- 
ten in any of our grocery stores. I have found one 
low in starch, made at a New York starch fac- 
tory. Barley has about the same composition as 
wheat. Buckwheat is lower in proteids and well 
up in carbohydrates. Corn meal has 8.9 per cent, 
proteids, 2.2 fat, 75.1 carbohydrates, and little ash. 
Wheat flour has 11.4 per cent, proteids, 75.6 carbo- 
hydrates, 1 fat, and little ash. Oat meal is very 
strong tissue-building food, being 15.6 per cent, 
proteids, 7.3 fats, and 68 carbohydrates. Now look 
at rice — 8 per cent, proteids, .3 fat, 79.0 carbo- 
hydrates, 12.3 water, and little ash. It is easily 

156 



EATING TO LIVE 

digested, and, if not eaten with too much fat, is 
not very fattening. 

Tapioca is nearly pure starch. Fresh lima beans 
have about the same food strength as white po- 
tatoes. Green peas have much water, only 3.6 pro- 
teids and 9.8 carbohydrates. Fresh radishes are 
nearly all water and refuse. So is rhubarb, but it 
has oxalic acid, and bears watching. Onions are 
chiefly water, with a small per cent, of carbohy- 
drates, mostly sugar, and so are parsnips. Let- 
tuce is mostly water, and is somewhat soothing 
from its lactucarium. Okra is not strong food. 
Egg-plant is mostly water, but is generally cooked 
with too much fat. Celery is mostly water, with 
1.1 ash, where its virtue lies. Cauliflower has over 
90 per cent, water, and so has cabbage. They fur- 
nish bulk for the stomach to act on. Artichokes 
have considerable carbohydrates. Beets are over 
90 per cent, water, with considerable sugar. The 
average dried fruits in the markets have little 
water ; proteids, 2 to 3 ; fat, 2 to 3 ; carbohydrates, 
64.7; ash, 2 to 3. 

Let us gossip about foods a bit further. In look- 
ing over this list it is interesting to note how 
nearly alike they run in nitrogen, how much they 
vary in fats, and how little they vary in ash. Roast 
beef is scarcely as strong as sirloin steak in pro- 
teids, but exceeds it in fat as usually cut. Boiled 

157 



EATING TO LIVE 

Flounders are among the lightest of the fish for 
eating. Smelts are a luxury in cold weather, in 
fact, are among the few fish whose delicacy of 
flavor is not affected by icing; but, alas, they are 
of the salmon tribe and are strong food. Lobsters 
and crabs are not overly strong food, if plainly 
served. It is astonishing how high in proteids these 
elegant fresh-water fish, the white perch and fresh- 
water black bass, are. Perch, 19.1 per cent, pro- 
teids, only .4 of fat. Bass, 20.4 per cent, of pro- 
teids, with little fat. The king of edible fish, the 
shad, with 9.4 per cent, of proteids and 4.8 of fat, 
is quite a strong food. The roe is another luxury 
very strong in nitrogen, but not very high in fat. 
If we want to cut our diet, how disappointing is all 
this. Everything good is high in nitrogen, and ni- 
trogen is poison to many of the good and brave in 
this world. Where shall we send them for luxu- 
ries? Well, thank God for giving us the oyster 
and the clam and milk! The oyster has only 6.2 
per cent, proteids and little fat. The clam has 10.6 
per cent, of proteids and 1 of fat. Scallops are 
stronger, having 14.8 per cent, of proteids. So, 
with milk and oysters and clams and a few scal- 
lops now and then, a little consomme — a very 
little, for a few tablespoonfuls of soup are always 
sufficient as a prelude to a dinner — milk ad 
libitum, even if it must be skimmed, or partly 

159 



EATING TO LIVE 

beef has much less proteids than roasi beef, and 
the loin of lamb is also lower. Veal is strong 
food, the cutlets especially so, but not up to 
beef, mutton, pork, or lamb in fuel value. It 
would not be economical food for the laboring 
man. Pigs' feet are a delicacy, and rather low in 
proteids. The average pork sausage is strong in 
proteids and fats. Of the soups, consomme is the 
weakest, a mere stimulant and appetizer. Mock 
turtle, as prepared, is the strongest soup. The 
seeker after light diet might take a little goose, 
avoiding as much as possible the fat, while he 
will find turkey and chicken, especially if he eat the 
dark meats, a little strong in proteids. 

When we come to fish we find them disappoint- 
ingly high in proteids. Tell a man to eat fish as a 
low diet and he goes unwittingly to salmon. He 
might as well eat roast beef for low diet. He 
will get in salmon 19.9 per cent, of proteids and 7.4 
of fat. Fresh mackerel are nearly as bad, and 
salt mackerel worse, and smoked herring are 
high food. Of course these salted fish are only 
relishes, and may be used as such, with bread 
and butter and a cup of tea. Fresh herring and 
shad are strong and fatty foods. Cod is high up 
in proteids. What about codfish and potatoes, that 
grand New England dish? Well, take it Sunday 
morning, with not too much fat in frying it. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

skimmed, or separated, or poured, or alkalized, with 
rice, and white potatoes, and some of the green 
vegetables, surely one cannot starve. 

Here is a caution to observe. If one has, from 
his environment, to live largely on preserved foods, 
on canned foods and such, watch for any dyspep- 
tic symptoms which may arise and come on one 
" like a thief in the night." Many of these pro- 
ducts are tainted with coloring matter, antifer- 
ments, and the like, and, worst of all, may be con- 
taminated with lead from the low grade of tin and 
the solder used. If indigestion comes on, if ab- 
dominal pains are frequent and the bowels consti- 
pated or irregular, look well to the food supply, 
and to the water supply, and thus you may avoid 
untold suffering and horror, and even painful and 
premature death. 

White Potatoes. 

The white potato is a native of Chile, and was 
introduced into Europe by the Spaniards about 
1580. It came into this country about the end of 
the sixteenth century. The skin of the potato con- 
stitutes 2j4 per cent, of the whole; the cortical 
layer 8.5 per cent. The remainder is the flesh. The 
edible portion is 78.3 per cent, water, 2.2 per cent, 
proteids, 0.1 per cent, fat, 18.4 per cent, carbohy- 
drates, chiefly starch, and 1 per cent. ash. The 

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EATING TO LIVE 

fuel value of the potato is 385 calories per pound. 
A potato diet is one-sided. Four and one-half 
pounds of raw potatoes equal in food value about 
one pound of dry, uncooked rice. The juice of the 
potato contains citric acid, with some succinic and 
tartaric acids. The mineral matter is largely potash 
salts. Much starch is made from the potato. 

Potatoes are cooked chiefly by boiling, baking, 
and frying. Heat expands the water in the po- 
tato and ruptures the starch cells. Baking best 
breaks up the starch granules and is the best way 
to cook the potato. Potatoes boiled with the skins 
on lose less nutriment than when otherwise boiled. 
Fried potato chips contain much fat, and thus are 
more indigestible than boiled or baked potatoes, 
and are more fattening. 

Potatoes fertilized in growing by muriate of 
potash are usually watery and more or less insipid. 
Sulphate of potash is better with which to fertilize 
potatoes in growing. If potatoes are allowed to 
freeze, some of the starch is converted into sugar 
and the potatoes have a sweet, unnatural taste. 
The flavor of potatoes varies as to variety and as 
to methods of growing them and in the soil in 
which they are grown. 

Potatoes may disagree with some who have 

more or less inability to digest starch, but, as a 

rule, they are useful and wholesome when prop- 
11 161 



EATING TO LIVE 

erly cooked and eaten in proper quantity. There 
are many persons with whom potatoes do not 
agree and they must therefore avoid them. To 
individuals with peculiar idiosyncrasies they may 
be actually poisonous. In such cases the offend- 
ing principle appears to be what is called solanin 
in the potato. Sprouted potatoes contain more 
solanin than fresh potatoes, and sprouted potatoes 
should, as a rule, not be eaten. Potatoes kept too 
long, say one year, should not be eaten. There 
is little or no solanin in fresh potatoes. If you wish 
less nitrogen in your potatoes, boil after they have 
been peeled ; if more nitrogen and a stronger food, 
boil with the skins on. 

I look upon white potatoes as among the most 
innocent of the starchy foods, with a tendency 
to increase the alkalinity of the blood. One thing 
remember, if you wish to cut down your fat, — 
keep clear of fried potato chips as they are usually 
cooked. 

Sweet potatoes, in this country, fill a large place 
in the general diet. They are strong food and much 
more fattening than the white potatoes. They 
contain proteids, 3.6; fat, 1.3; carbohydrates 49.1, 
and ash, 2. They are more difficult of digestion 
than white potatoes, and only the strong and vig- 
orous can eat them with impunity. They are best 

boiled with the skins on. Fried, they are very rich, 

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EATING TO LIVE 

with too much fats for the average stomach. Yams 
are much like them. 

Coffee, Tea, Chocolate, Cocoa. 

Coffee, so universally used as a beverage and as 
an article of diet, cannot be passed without men- 
tion. Haig condemns it for the lithaemic individ- 
ual, but condemns tea more. Its composition is 
given as follows : Water, i . 1 5 ; fat, 14.48; crude 
fibre, 19.89; ash, 4.75; caffeine, 1.24; albumin- 
oids, 13.98; other nitrogenous matter, 45.09; 
sugar, gum, and dextrin, 1.66. This is the analy- 
sis of the coffee-bean. Of course, the beans vary 
in quality and strength. In excess it produces 
restlessness and tremulousness in man, according 
to Dr. H. C. Wood and other authorities, but these 
troubles are rather spinal than cerebral. 

In proper doses, not too large, caffeine stimu- 
lates the heart; in poisonous doses, overcomes it. 
It increases arterial pressure independently of the 
vasomotor centres, Dr. H. C. Wood declares; so, 
altogether it may do good in some neurotic condi- 
tions, in some heart affections, and where we want 
diuresis. Where we wish to avoid increased blood- 
pressure, watch it. If very strong, it retards di- 
gestion and puts away sleep from weary eyes. 
Some students use it to keep awake in order to 

force work. This is a practice to be reprobated on 

163 



EATING TO LIVE 

all sides. Like all others of its kind, it has many 
good uses, and may be, and doubtless is, subject to 
much abuse in its excessive use. 

We see many advertisements in the daily papers 
telling of the horrors which result from the use 
of coffee and lauding substitutes. This method 
of raising prejudice against coffee is not fair to 
coffee and to coffee interests. It is not science; it 
is commercialism pure and simple — and not honor- 
able commercialism either. Pay no attention to 
such interested statements. 

Tea. — Tea may be classed with coffee, and we 
use it both green and black. For green tea the 
leaves are steamed before they are rolled and dried ; 
green tea also contains more astringent matter 
than black tea. Thompson gives this analysis of 
Kozai. Green tea: Crude proteids, 37.43; fibre, 
10.06; ash, 4.92; theine, 3.20; tannin, 10.64; 
total nitrogen, 5.99. Black tea: Crude proteids, 
38.90; fibre, 10.07; asn > 4-93 1 theine, 3.30; tan- 
nin, 4.89; total nitrogen, 6.22. 

If theine is identical with caffeine, as it is said to 
be, then, as far as theine is concerned, tea acts like 
coffee on the system. There is not much differ- 
ence apparent, and authorities differ upon which 
is best to help the soldier on his marches, but all 
agree that one or the other is essential to get the 

best results. Tea, if taken in excess, retards di- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

gestion by precipitating the digestive ferments, just 
as coffee in excess does. 

When you make tea, do not boil it, do not stew 
it. In the early days of the advent of the Japan- 
ese to the outer world, from the members of the 
great Japanese embassy which left Japan after 
the Perry expedition, I learned to brew tea. 
Put, say, one teaspoonful of tea leaves for each 
half pint of tea you want; pour on this boil- 
ing hot water; let it stand, tightly covered, 
two minutes, then stir it thoroughly with, say, 
six to eight revolutions to the right, and as 
many to the left, using a spoon or chopstick. The 
tea is then at its best, and the sooner you drink it 
the better. You get little tannin and none of the 
disagreeable, bitter extractive matters of the tea. 
In boiled tea you get tannin, bitter extractives, 
and altogether an indigestible, unwholesome dose. 
Stew it, — well, don't throw it to your pigs, they 
won't eat it or drink it; and the pigs are right. 

Again, we have cocoa and chocolate, both pre- 
pared from the cocoa bean, which comes from the 
tree, Theobroma cacao. Theobromine is the alka- 
loid of cocoa, and is very much in every way like 
caffeine and theine. The kernels of the cocoa 
beans are, when ground, called cocoa nibs. Cocoa 
is made from these, and starch, or sugar, or both, 
are added in the making. A German analysis is as 

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EATING TO LIVE 

follows: Theobromine, 1.73; total nitrogenous 
matters, 19.88; fat, 30.51; water, 3.83; ash, 8.30; 
fibre, etc., 37.48. 

In recommending cocoa, remember it is fatten- 
ing from fat and sugar, and also usually contains 
starch. Chocolate is made, according to Thomp- 
son, from the husked, dried, ground, and fermented 
cocoa seeds, which are then roasted and made into 
a paste. Sugar is added, at least 50 per cent., and 
various flavorings. Chocolate is less fatty than 
cocoa, and altogether not so rich. The husks of the 
seeds make cocoa shells, and a decoction of these is 
often used for a light drink, where we want some- 
thing near to water. 

Before leaving the subject of coffee, tea, and 
cocoa, let me enter a plea for their close study as 
articles of diet so universally used. While they 
may be abused by the masses generally, they are all 
strong weapons in our hands for good. Remem- 
ber their stimulating properties, their comforting 
effects, and the habit so universal with the peo- 
ple. In fever cases, in cases of wasting disease, you 
will often find in these products a very useful ally. 
Remember that when people are ill this may be no 
reason they should not take tea or coffee or choco- 
late or cocoa. As to their consumption, each case is 
a proper study for both patient and physician. If 

these substances are not directly food and nourish - 

166 



EATING TO LIVE 

ment, they are able adjuncts to the diet of man. If 
they afford no direct nourishment in the way of en- 
ergy and tissue-building material, they doubtless do 
much to prevent destructive metamorphosis of tis- 
sue. A man will live longer under deprivation of 
food with them than without them, his body will 
die more slowly, and from them he will get much 
solace and comfort, even outside of the adjuncts of 
the milk and sugar such beverages as prepared by 
man usually contain. 

Tobacco. 
I cannot pass by this much used and exhilarat- 
ing weed without some reference to its use, and 
even abuse, by man. Like all foods we eat, indis- 
creetly used, it is its abuse, and not so much its 
guarded use, that concerns us. It is well to ap- 
proach all such matters with the weapon of honest 
criticism and scientific investigation, and not with 
the weapon of the fanatic. The action of to- 
bacco on one not accustomed to its use is that of a 
powerful depressant. It produces nausea, giddi- 
ness, vomiting, and great weakness. A person sick 
from tobacco is, for the time being, inexpressibly 
wretched, and the wonder is how any one can renew 
his acquaintance with the drug after such an ex- 
perience. Its sole active principle is nicotine. This 
has a tobacco odor and burning taste. One-thirty- 

167 



EATING TO LIVE 

second of a grain of nicotine will make the aver- 
age man ill. 

Acting on the nervous system, tobacco, in an 
overdose, will produce convulsions of various 
forms. Acting on the circulation, it increases or 
decreases the blood-pressure according to the 
amount taken into the system. It causes contrac- 
tion of the pupil of the eye, etc., and prolonged 
use and increased toleration has a most depressing 
and serious effect upon the organs of vision. 

In medicine tobacco is used to relax spasm, to re- 
lieve pain, etc. As a remedy it is not to be trifled 
with, for it has undoubtedly caused many deaths. 
Used with children, it is particularly dangerous and 
should be avoided. 

Seeing the effect of such a powerful drug on the 
normal man, is it not wonderful how it has ever 
come into such general use without a single at- 
tribute to recommend it? The same may be said 
of alcohol and most other stimulants and depres- 
sants. Like most or all poisons, the human system 
becomes tolerant of them after repeated and in- 
creasing doses. See the boy sick from his first 
smoke. Ask him his opinion of tobacco. See Ik 
Marvel, revelling in the smoke as it fumes and curls 
around him, in his " Reveries of a Bachelor." Ask 
him. Here are the two extremes. 

Persistence in the use of one of the vilest weeds 

168 



EATING TO LIVE 

in nature, one endowed with one of the most subtle 
of all poisons as its active principle, brings to man 
more joy, more consolation, more relief from care 
and wear and tear than all the really worldly pleas- 
ures combined. Aye, but the day of reckoning will 
come; action and reaction are equal. Every joy 
thus obtained will be followed by its corresponding 

sorrow. 

" On life's vast ocean diversely we sail. 
Reason the cord, but passion is the gale." 

The unfortunate part of the condition is that we 
naturally turn to artificial comforters in our race 
for life and honor and fame, and thus alcohol and 
tobacco have grown to play their body-burning, 
soul-consuming parts in the drama of life, and 
greatly to the injury of weak and faltering man. 

It goes without saying that mankind would be 
far better off had they never heard of tobacco. The 
question before us now, granting the utter impos- 
sibility of doing away with its use, is the possi- 
bility of limiting its consumption to our needs and 
comforts, and not to our injury and undoing. To- 
bacco is particularly injurious to the young, and 
we should do all in our power to limit its use to 
adult age. In all persons suffering from cardio- 
vascular irregularities the use of tobacco should be 
scrupulously guarded. The so-called tobacco heart 
is no myth. Persons using tobacco and noting any 

169 



EATING TO LIVE 

troubles of their vision should look to tobacco as a 
possible cause. Tobacco is a serious menace to 
good eyesight among those who abuse it. Users 
of tobacco suffering from dyspepsia must look to 
it as a cause. One who finds himself failing in 
health from any cause and is conscious of discom- 
fort, should exclude the use of tobacco as a cause, 
should he be given to it. 

As to chewing of tobacco, it is a filthy habit, and 
I have no defence to offer for it. It is in no respect 
worthy of any defence or justification, yet it is 
always with us. One may probably not get the 
poisonous effects from nicotine so much from chew- 
ing tobacco as from smoking it, but his salivary or- 
gans are constantly overstimulated, and salivary di- 
gestion is both interfered with and weakened. His 
food makes a bad beginning on its way to proper 
digestion. The crusade now properly being waged 
against the spitting habit surely must have a ten- 
dency to check the free American citizen in his 
tobacco chewing. May God speed the day! 

As to cigarette smoking and injuries following 
it, one of the great evils of this form of tobacco 
using is its practice by boys. The cigarette is handy, 
cheap, and always ready. As to their adultera- 
tion with opium and other narcotics, this is prob- 
ably not correct. Opium is too dear for such a pur- 
pose, and no commercial advantage could come 

170 



EATING TO LIVE 

from its use here. I doubt if the same amount of 
tobacco smoked in cigarettes is any more harmful 
than the same amount smoked in pipes and cigars. 
The paper is objectionable for many reasons. 
The trouble with the cigarette is not the quality, 
but the quantity. As before said, boys who should 
not smoke find their temptation in them, and men 
are apt to overdo the thing, smoke all the time, one 
after another. A whiff at a cigarette after a meal 
will do little harm. Keeping up the whiffs indefi- 
nitely is where the sin and its consequences come 
in. Another bad practice is inhaling the smoke. 
Inhaling the smoke from one cigarette does more 
damage to the system than the smoking of half a 
dozen cigarettes without inhaling. 

The best rule in life is moderation in all things, 
and this surely applies to the use of tobacco. The 
better the quality of the cigar the less poison we 
probably get from tobacco in nicotine. The better 
the quality of smoking tobacco, the less poison we 
probably get in pipe smoking; hence if you do 
smoke cigars, if you do smoke a pipe, if you do 
smoke cigarettes, if you do chew tobacco, have as 
much regard for quality as you have for quantity. 

Water. 
Water is one of the most important of our foods 

and comprises nearly or quite 70 per cent, of the 

171 



EATING TO LIVE 

body weight. Taken both in food and drink, a 
fully developed man will take into his system prob- 
ably three quarts of water in twenty-four hours. 
The average man, as a rule, does not take water 
enough. As to how the water is taken depends on 
the environment of the individual. In some Euro- 
pean countries, notably in France, very little water 
is drunk. Light wines are universally used, and 
from these most of the water necessary for the 
system is obtained. 

It is of great importance to see to the water 
supply of the household. Many of the most serious 
diseases, among them typhoid fever and cholera, 
are carried into the system by impure water. Where 
no proper filtration plant is established in cities and 
towns, the only safe plan to adopt is to boil all 
water used for drinking purposes, and not to add 
ice to the water to cool it, but set the vessel con- 
taining the drinking water on the ice. The use of 
copper sulphate to purify water is still sub judice. 
The outlook is now promising. Ice is capable 
of conveying many pathogenic germs. Water 
is eliminated from the system through the skin 28 
per cent., through the breathing apparatus 20 per 
cent., through the kidneys 50 per cent., and through 
the bowels, etc., 2 per cent. 

Distilled water is a proper and safe drink, and 

has been spoken of before. Rain water, if prop- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

erly gathered, with proper safeguards as to clean- 
liness, etc., is about like distilled water. Min- 
eral matter in water as usually found, up to, say, 
five grains to the gallon, is not objectionable. If 
it runs up to fifty grains or more to the gallon, 
as lime, chloride of sodium, etc., it becomes ob- 
jectionable, and may affect the solvent power of the 
water physiologically. These hard waters may 
cause dyspeptic symptoms and favor the formation 
of calcareous deposits, etc. Running water in 
streams, even if impure, is said to cleanse itself by 
oxidation of the organic impurities. I do not know 
the ratio as to distance, but the Chicago Drainage 
Canal is cited as an instance of not contaminating 
the waters of the streams into which it enters. 

The drinking of water eliminates waste from the 
system, but it should not be used too freely while 
eating and thus dilute too much the digestive juices. 
Water does not fatten, as before said ; it washes out 
waste products and promotes tissue change. To 
quench thirst, sip water as hot as you can possibly 
endure it; this is far better than taking it cold if 
the thirst is unquenchable and there is a reason for 
not taking much fluid. 

As to the temperature of water at the time of 
drinking it, the proper temperature depends much 
on the environment. It is well not to fill the stom- 
ach with ice-cold water suddenly, even in the hot- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

test weather. Under these conditions, it often hap- 
pens that the more you drink the more you want. 
This is especially so during digestion. Hot water is 
often useful in washing out the stomach before 
eating. 

There are many bottled waters on the market, 
some aerated, some still. There are a number of 
sp-called lithia waters. I know of no lithia spring 
in this or any other country that contains sufficient 
lithia to affect the system when drunk in ordinary 
quantity. The good purpose these waters serve is 
to furnish a safe water supply to those travelling, 
where change of water often affects the system to 
disadvantage, and they encourage those to drink 
water who otherwise would not take sufficient to 
cleanse their systems of waste products. Aerated 
waters are largely used. It is well to guard against 
taking these too freely, and the same may be said 
of so-called soda-waters, ginger ales, etc. The 
harm here may come from improper syrups and 
flavorings and trash generally. If soda-water 
drinkers would confine themselves to plain soda and 
use no mixed drinks, they would doubtless be better 
off. If too much of these waters be consumed, 
especially the alkaline waters, it leads to what the 
celebrated French physician, Trousseau, called the 
" mineral-water cachexia." Among the best of our 
table waters is the Poland water, from the Poland 

i74 



EATING TO LIVE 

Springs of Maine. There are all sorts of waters 
on the market and their use should always be super- 
vised by a physician for the given case. There are 
alkaline waters, purgative waters, alkaline sulphur 
waters, chalybeate waters, acidulous waters, etc. 
Dr. Carl von Noorden highly recommends the 
saline waters, the chloride of sodium waters, to be 
taken freely in all cases of gout and the so-called 
uric acid diathesis. It is well to have so distin- 
guished an authority to recommend these waters 
for such cases. Heretofore many authorities have 
rather advocated the very conservative use of sodium 
chloride or common salt in uric acid conditions. 
Von Noorden relies on the Homburg, the Carlsbad, 
and Kissingen waters chiefly. Many of our drink- 
ing waters contain a fair amount of common salt, 
and according to this high authority may be freely 
used by the gouty. In our own country we find 
many of our sulphur springs high in sodium chlo- 
ride, and especially at Saratoga we find this so in 
the High Rock, the Congress, the Star, Empire, 
Excelsior, and Carlsbad. It is indeed difficult to go 
amiss for good saline waters in this country. 

Sugar. 

Farmers' Bulletin, No. 93, United States De- 
partment of Agriculture, by Mary Hinman Abel, 
goes fully into sugar as an article of diet, and I 

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EATING TO LIVE 

hereby acknowledge my indebtedness in quoting 
from it. The United States consumes sixty-four 
pounds of sugar per capita per year. The world 
probably consumes eight million tons per year. We 
have cane sugars, grape sugars, fruit sugars, and 
milk sugars. The sugars chemically are carbohy- 
drates. Cane sugar is the chief sugar we use. 
Grape sugar is less sweet than cane sugar. Com- 
mercial glucose is dextrose made by hydrolizing 
starch. Milk yields from 4 to 5 per cent, of milk 
sugar. Honey we know comes from the honey 
bee. Its fine flavor, when pure, comes from the 
volatile bodies of the flowers from which it is made. 
Glycogen is a form of sugar found in the mus- 
cles and in the liver. The so-called cane sugars are 
found in the stems and roots of all grasses, in the 
sugar canes and sorghum, in beets, sweet potatoes, 
the saps of trees, as the sugar maple, etc. Sugar 
cane and sorghum, beets and maple-trees are the 
chief sources commercially. 

Only within fifty years has sugar become the sta- 
ple article of diet it is to-day. Before that time 
it was rather a luxury. The refining of sugar 
has been brought to such perfection that we may 
say that refined loaf sugar is nearly or quite chem- 
ically pure. Within certain limits we can now 
look on sugar as the equivalent of starch that has 
been digested and made ready for absorption. To 

176 



EATING TO LIVE 

enter the system sugar is converted into dextrose 
before it is absorbed as nourishment. Now it fur- 
nishes heat and energy to the system. It is becom- 
ing more and more a recognized necessary article 
of diet in the ration of the soldier and the hard 
worker. It takes the place of too much starchy 
food which supplies the same needs, but calls on 
the system for more work in its digestion to prepare 
it for the same duties performed by sugar. In cold 
weather diet sugar is an important staple and in 
hot weather diet it is even of greater importance. 

Athletes in hard training long for sugar. With 
them it is rapidly consumed in the system, and so 
it is with mountain climbers and such. Sugar is 
fattening, and with those inclined to put on fat its 
use must be guarded. Its flavor makes it craved by 
most persons, and this flavor is apt in many cases 
to cause it to be used in excess. Miss Abel speaks 
of sugar as formerly regarded only as a condiment. 
Had it no other use saccharin and dulcin, which are 
not foods, might supplant sugar. But this cannot 
be, for sugar has its place as a food. 

The use of sugar may be abused. It may be 
absorbed more rapidly than it can be assimilated, if 
too much is eaten, and thus overload the system 
and cause indigestion or overloading of the excre- 
tory organs. Too much concentrated solution of 

sugar may also cause trouble. Large amounts of 
12 177 



EATING TO LIVE 

sugar and sweetened foods are apt to ferment in 
the stomach and intestines and cause great harm 
and discomfort. A healthy adult can consume 
about one-quarter of a pound of sugar in twenty- 
four hours. Beyond this trouble may ensue. Miss 
Abel says there is no proof that sugar is harm- 
ful to the teeth and there is no evidence that it 
produces gout and such troubles. In candy pure 
glucose is no longer considered an injurious adul- 
terant. The aniline and other coal-tar products as 
coloring matters in cheap candies are more doubt- 
ful. 

Shall we give the baby sweets in the shape of 
candies, lump sugar, etc.? While the baby is 
nourished almost altogether on milk, say up to one 
year, he gets all the sugar he needs from the milk 
he takes. As soon as he is old enough to digest 
the starchy foods in the shape of the cereals, he gets 
his carbohydrate supply from these. Up to this 
time he does not need sugar in pure form unless 
he cannot digest sufficient of carbohydrates to give 
him sufficient heat and energy. Watch him here, 
and perhaps a little pure sugar or a little pure candy 
may help him. The trouble with sugar is, it may 
cause him to decline his cereals and his milk, which 
would be better for him than sugars. As a rule, 
do not sugar the baby's oat meal and other por- 
ridges up to two years of age. If he does not get 

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EATING TO LIVE 

along on porridges plain, try him once in a while 
with a little simple sweetened pudding, or a lump 
of sugar, or a little pure candy to help out as an 
acceptable change in the flavor of his otherwise 
monotonous diet. In general cooking do not use 
too much sugar; do not overload the natural fla- 
vors and destroy them with the flavor of sugar. 
After all, study your case. In the underfed, sugar 
may help out; in the hard-worked it may do the 
same. In eating, practise moderation in all things ; 
practise moderation in sugar. 

Poultry and Game. 

Under this head we place chickens, turkeys, 
guinea-fowls, pea-fowls, geese, ducks, pigeons, 
pheasants, prairie chickens, quail, woodcock, snipe, 
swans, and other such birds. The chickens, turkeys, 
quail, guineas, and pheasants come under the order 
of the Gallinaceae, or comb bearers. These birds 
have much white meat in their make up. Pigeons 
belong to the order Columbidse, or doves. Ducks, 
geese, and swans belong to the order Natatores, or 
swimmers. Their flesh is rather dark and juicy. 
Chickens are most used as food. The rooster is 
not good eating after the first year. 

A caponized cockerel is delicious, and if truffled 

he is a revelation in the gastronomic art. An old 

hen is better than an old rooster. A poulard, or 

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EATING TO LIVE 

spayed pullet, is not equal in flavor or desirability as 
an eating fowl to the caponized cockerel. Roasted 
fowls of proper age are probably most digestible. 
A broiled chick is another desirable way of serv- 
ing. Fried chicken is very rich. Chicken, stewed 
or fricassee, is a desirable way of cooking the bird 
if full grown. 

We hear much of red meats and white meats. 
There is, as has been said before, no great dif- 
ference between them, after all, in strength, as 
measured by their nitrogen. Roasted chicken has 
about 13.7 per cent, and sirloin steak has only 16.5. 
Rump steak is no stronger than chicken. In fat sir- 
loin steak is 16. 1 per cent, and chicken 12.3. See 
how little difference in the strength of these and 
then think how often you hear people say their 
doctor has forbidden red meats, but white meats 
they can eat to satisfaction. Their doctors are giv- 
ing them bad advice, or at least unscientific advice, 
and they should know better. 

The guinea-fowl is a fine bird, and perhaps is 
stronger food than chicken, for it approaches 
near the true game bird, and as a rule all game 
is high up in proteids. Squab guineas are de- 
licious eating. The same may be said of .the 
pea-fowl. We rarely hear of the pea-fowl as 
a table delicacy, but a young bird roasted is 
equal to turkey. The true pheasant is an Asiatic 

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EATING TO LIVE 

bird, and we see them in market from England 
now and then. Our prairie chicken is a better 
bird, and so is our ruffed grouse of New England, 
called in the Middle States the pheasant. It is 
really the partridge, and the Middle States part- 
ridge is more properly the quail. These birds all 
furnish strong food, and under no conditions are 
low flesh diet. Squabs or pigeons four weeks old 
come under the same head as to food. 

Geese and ducks, but particularly geese, are high 
up in fat and are strong, rather indigestible, food. 
In proteids they are about the same as chicken. The 
cygnet, or young swan, is probably not so rich as 
the matured goose. The turkey is very rich and 
strong food. He runs 16.1 per cent, proteids and 
18.4 fat. His fuel value per pound is 1060 calories, 
as against 305 calories for broiled chicken, and 765 
calories for roasted fowl. Goose runs 1475 calories 
fuel value per pound. Goose is cheap food for one 
who can digest it. Age, variety, and the method of 
feeding have much to do with the flavor and even 
the food value of our domestic poultry. 

The French probably excel in getting toothsome 
birds from forced feeding. The foie gras, the 
diseased fatty liver of the over-stuffed, over-con- 
fined goose, is a not-to-be-desired luxury, a result 
of unnatural environment. It is too rich for the 
human stomach. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

To give the best food value poultry should be 
fattened naturally, not absolutely confined and 
crammed, as practised more in Europe than in this 
country, but allowed a little exercise, but not total 
liberty. As to marketing poultry drawn or un- 
drawn, experiments show that the drawn keep bet- 
ter, and their flavor is not spoiled, as is the un- 
drawn, by fermentation of the retained intestinal 
contents, etc. Cold-storage poultry is all right if 
put in storage in absolutely first-class condition. 
After it has been removed once, it should be cooked 
and eaten within twenty-four hours. It is apt to 
turn very soon if not used thus, and would then 
be improper food for man. It is a question with 
me if the remarkably great increase in appendi- 
citis and such diseases has not been influenced in 
a great measure by our changed food supply, the 
eating of unsound cold-storage stuff, unsound 
canned vegetables, etc. I have but little doubt that 
this is a fact. I had a long hospital experience 
in my younger days, and appendicitis was undoubt- 
edly a rare disease. It did not go unrecognized; 
it was rare, very rare. In any large general hos- 
pital to-day, it is unusual for a week to go by 
without an operation for appendicitis. Most cases 
are probably of bacterial origin, and the bacterial 
growth is probably fertilized by the changed food 

supply of man at the present day. Canned stuff or 

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EATING TO LIVE 

cold storage foods are now half our living, and the 
facility of transportation invites running about, 
and thus we are constantly changing our methods 
of eating and drinking. Probably saprogenic bac- 
teria or putrefactive bacteria are much more com- 
mon in our alimentary canals, and ptomaines and 
toxalbumins are more often found than in the old 
times, and man suffers accordingly. 

To sum up poultry diet: As purchased in the 
market, the strongest food, estimating it by its pro- 
teids or tissue-building elements, is obtained in the 
guinea hen and old pigeon ; in strength next comes 
the turkey, next the ordinary chicken, next the 
capon, and after it the broiler, and then the squab 
pigeon, then the duck, then the goose, then the 
duckling. In game the quail is about the strongest 
food in proteids and fat, then the ruffed grouse and 
prairie chicken, and then the imported pheasants. 

While on this subject of the relative strength of 
food stuffs of this kind in diet let us for a moment 
recur to the general flesh products. Smoked goose 
breast is very strong in proteids and fat. Potted 
chicken has more proteids and less fat than potted 
turkey. Canned boned chicken is very strong food, 
and so is canned turkey. Foie gras, the French 
luxury, is only fairly high in proteids, but very 
high in fat, some carbohydrates, with a very high 
fuel value per pound. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Now, as to some of the other flesh foods, so we 
may know what we are eating and can calculate 
as to the effect on our systems by the food we 
take. Sirloin beefsteak is stronger than the same 
amount of the coarser cuts of beef, but it has less 
fat and more waste parts. Lamb chops are nearly 
as strong as sirloin steak, but have more fat. Leg 
of mutton is not as strong food as sirloin steak or 
lamb or mutton chops and has less fat than either. 
Pork chops and roasted fresh pork are not as strong 
.as sirloin steak or mutton, but carry much more 
fat. Salt pork is weaker, but very much fatter 
food than fresh pork. Fish we will speak of far- 
ther on. Smoked ham is not so strong, but on the 
average quite fat. The fibre is the secret of the 
goodness of ham. The breeding of the pig and 
the care and the feeding make the fibre. This is 
illustrated in the Westphalia and the Smithfield 
(Virginia) hams. Corned beef is only fairly strong 
but quite fat. Breast of veal fairly strong and 
only fairly fat. Veal cutlet is very strong, yet low 
in fat. Pork sausage, fresh, is fairly strong, 
very fat and difficult of digestion to the average 
man. Bologna is quite strong and fairly fat. It 
contains more or less beef. In fact, pork sau- 
sage contains more or less beef as made by the 
large factories. The select little sausages contain 

some liver, which adds to their flavor. Beef soup 

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EATING TO LIVE 

is a strong soup. Consomme and such are more 
flavorings and appetizers than food. A few table- 
spoonfuls are a proper prelude to a good dinner, 
as before noted. 

Fish. 

It is interesting to compare fish as food with 
meats and to see how they compare in percentage 
of proteids, particularly with our strong foods, 
such as roast beef and mutton. The average fish 
diet is surely not the light diet we unthinkingly are 
apt to take it to be ; nevertheless fish is a safer and 
lighter diet than red meats and such, even if we 
take the stronger fish, like cod and salmon. Fish 
diet does not, as before noted, load the blood with 
as much waste as the heavy meats do, requiring the 
getting of more oxygen by exercise to eliminate 
it from the system. Thus, fish diet does not ren- 
der the overfed man dull like heavy meats, nor is 
there any truth in the common belief that fish diet 
is the best brain-food, from the excess of phos- 
phorus it contains. To show how much fish we 
use in the United States, the value of the yearly 
catch of commercial fisheries is about fifty millions 
of dollars. These include fresh-water fish and 
salt-water fish. 

Fish to get the best results for food should be 
killed at once, and not allowed to die slowly. Take 

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EATING TO LIVE 

a shad. Immediately it has been netted it should 
be bled in the tail and killed thus at once. There 
is no comparison in the flavor of this fish and one 
allowed to die slowly. By the tables salmon is 
about the strongest fish in protein and fat. Its food 
value is 1025 calories per pound. Halibut probably 
comes next. These are nearly as strong as beef. 
Mackerel is very strong and very fat. So are her- 
rings. The roe of the shad and herring are very 
strong. Cod is very strong, but not very fat. Eels 
are very strong and quite fat. Carp, fresh-water 
bass, sea bass, butter fish, yellow perch, pickerel, 
pompano, smelts, shad, red snapper, sturgeon, white 
fish, weakfish, lake trout, brook trout, these are all 
strong food as fish go. Now, if we want to take 
the weaker of the fish as food, and thus keep down 
our nitrogen and fats in diet, we can eat the white 
perch, probably one of the very best of our pan fish. 
Again we can take the flounder; he is rather low 
diet, but very palatable if fresh from the salt water. 
The small-mouthed fresh-water bass is weaker as 
food than the large-mouthed bass. The striped bass 
or rock is not strong food as fish go, nor are the 
black fish. Hake is another fish not strong in ni- 
trogen, etc., nor is the porgy. I spoke of shad as 
strong food. The shad is not so strong as many 
of the other fish in nitrogen, but is quite rich in 
fat. The torn cod of the Pacific coast is a fish we 

186 



EATING TO LIVE 

may eat and not get a very strong food, and so is 
the turbot. The general average of fresh fish as 
sold is water, 44; proteids, 10.5; fat, 2.5; mineral 
matter, 1. Total nutrients, 14. Fuel value per 
pound, 300 calories. 

Now we come to the mollusks and the crusta- 
ceans, — the oysters, the clams, the scallops, the 
mussels, the lobsters, the crawfish, the crabs, and 
the shrimp. Here we have good food and not very 
strong food, food for the invalid, the gouty, and the 
rheumatic, so far as foods light in nitrogen and 
fats go. 

The general average of the mollusks in food 
value is water, 34; proteids, 3.2; fat, .4; carbohy- 
drates, 1.3; mineral matter, .9. Total nutrients, 
5.8. Fuel value per pound, 100 calories. Crusta- 
ceans, water, 20.9; proteids, 4.3; fats, .4; carbohy- 
drates, .2 ; mineral matter, .5. Total nutrients, 5.4. 
Fuel value per pound, 100 calories. 

Here is good food, not very strong, and, as a 
rule, if fresh and sound, very digestible and very 
nutritious and very palatable. The oyster espe- 
cially is valuable for all who need appetizing and 
acceptable food, and the eating of which will 
afford nourishment in every way satisfactory when 
the stronger foods will be out of place and do 
harm. The same may be said of clams in a lesser 
degree. The gouty man and the invalid may 

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EATING TO LIVE 

well say, Thank God for the oyster and the clam. 

The oyster only holds in its solids 6.1 proteids, 
1.4 fat, 3.3 carbohydrates, its liver being large, and 
.9 mineral matter. Total nutrients, 11.7. Fuel 
value per pound, 235 calories. Scallops are about 
double these in proteids, a little less in fat, about 
the same in carbohydrates, and a little higher in 
mineral matter and total nutrients, and 345 calories 
per pound in fuel value. 

Long clams are lower in proteids than oysters, 
but the round clams are somewhat higher. About 
the same in fat and higher in carbohydrates, and in 
mineral matter. Round clams are quite low in 
fuel value. 

Mussels are low in all. Lobster is low in pro- 
teids, low in fat, little carbohydrates as used, and 
low in mineral matter and fuel value. Crawfish are 
very weak food and low in all. Crabs are 7.3 pro- 
teids, .9 fat, .5 carbohydrates, 1.4 mineral matter. 
Total nutrients, 10.1, and 185 calories fuel value. 
Shrimps are stronger food, furnishing 370 calories 
per pound of the canned meat. 

Altogether fish hold a high place as food for 
man, and with a little knowledge and discretion we 
can pick out a diet from among them for the ath- 
lete, for the day laborer, for the sedentary man, 
for the growing child, or the invalid. " Chacun 
a son gout," and each one as to his condition. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Most of this as to fish is mere repetition, having 
been gone over before, but it is of such great im- 
portance as to demand repetition and reiteration, in 
order that the prevailing fallacies of eating fish, like 
eating white meats, instead of red meats, when we 
want to reduce our proteid intake, may be laid bare. 
These fallacies must and should be refuted, for 
they are put forward not only by intelligent people, 
but by many physicians themselves who unwittingly 
and unthinkingly and ignorantly palm them off on 
their confiding patients. 

Fruits as Food. 
Prof. M. E. Jaffa, of the University of Cali- 
fornia, has experimented at length on diets of fruits 
and nuts. Two women and three children com- 
prised a family and had lived on fruit for seven 
years. They ate twice a day. Breakfast, 10.30 
a.m. This meal consisted of nuts and fruit. Din- 
ner, 5 p.m. At this meal they ate no nuts, but 
in addition to fruit, olive oil and honey. They 
used almonds, Brazil nuts, pine nuts, and walnuts. 
The fruits were fresh and dried. Among them 
were apples, apricots, bananas, figs, grapes, olives, 
oranges, peaches, pears, plums, and raisins. Now 
and then some celery and tomatoes were used. The 
tomato may now be classed as a fruit, as developed 

by improvement from a vegetable. All enjoyed 

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EATING TO LIVE 

their meals and discussed them generally every day. 
The children were always active, romping, and 
playing. The results of the tests showed a small 
amount of proteids and energy, much below the fig- 
ures heretofore considered necessary for a man 
doing moderate muscular work. The results were 
about the same as those obtained from experiments 
made on vegetarians. 

Jaffa thinks his subjects on fruit and nut diet 
were undernourished. The two grown persons in 
the family, on the other hand, claimed that they 
had lived on the diet seven years, and were in bet- 
ter health and more capable of work than ever 
before. The three children appeared healthy and 
vigorous and were free from sickness usual among 
children. The cost per day for each person varied 
from eighteen to forty-six cents. Continuation of 
experiments showed Jaffa that while a fruit diet 
in many cases gave a man enough to live on and 
to work on, yet in the majority of cases exclusive 
fruit and nut diets fell far below the tentative 
standards. 

Let us look at fruit as food from an economic 
stand-point and reckon in fuel values. A pound of 
potatoes will give 325 ; a pound of wheat flour, 
1640; a pound of cornmeal, 1655 ; a pound of oat- 
meal, i860; a pound of milk, 325; a pound of fat 

beef (hind quarter), 1135; a pound of oysters, 

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EATING TO LIVE 

235 ; a pound of apples, 225 ; a pound of apricots, 
225 ; a pound of blackberries, 245 ; a pound of 
grapes, 320; a pound of pears, 235; a pound of 
plums, 370; a pound of raspberries, 255 ; a pound 
of strawberries, 155. Average of fruits, 256. As 
to vegetables, a pound of beets, 170; cabbage, 140; 
carrots, 170; lettuce, 85; onions, 210; parsnips, 
285 ; green peas, 200 ; pumpkin, 60 ; rutabaga 
turnips, 135; squash, 125; tomatoes, 105. Aver- 
age of vegetables, 153. The tables show that fruit 
costs about ten times as much as flour, corn meal, 
and such articles, taking into consideration their 
food values; therefore there must be found other 
considerations than that of food value for eating 
fruits. 

No one but a fanatic will claim that fruit alone 
will furnish a complete diet for man. Yet at the 
same time it does form a healthy and really an 
essential part of a complete diet, and it is coming 
more and more into use in all parts of the world; 
it is becoming more and more a staple product in 
our markets, and is becoming better and cheaper 
all the time, and is thus offering to mankind an 
economic advantage over the mere spontaneous 
productions of the ground enjoyed by his ances- 
tors. 

Fruits have long been a great part of the diet 
of the older races, and of the semicivilized and 

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EATING TO LIVE 

savage tribes. The latter, especially of the tropics 
and temperate latitudes, live on fruits, fish, and 
starchy vegetables, and these people are usually 
healthy, strong, and vigorous, and were more so 
until their more civilized and enlightened brothers 
introduced among them the various seductive poi- 
sons of a higher civilization. As a rule, with fruit 
we take much bulk that is not nutritious, and this 
very bulk is useful, because it prevents us eating 
too much of the stronger articles of diet. Given 
fruit as the first course at breakfast, and we will 
not be so apt to overload our stomachs with buck- 
wheat cakes and sausages, and the fruit taken will 
in many ways help us to get comfortably rid of 
the greater burden, the sugars and acids of the 
fruit being the factors here. The aroma of the 
fruits is pleasing to the senses, and thus aids secre- 
tion in various forms, especially of the digestive 
juices. Taking this view of the matter, fruit is 
better taken with the meal, and before the meal 
rather than after. During the meal especially we 
crave condiments or something to cater to our 
taste and bring out a proper secretion of the diges- 
tive juices and ferments, and to accomplish this 
we eat cranberry with our turkey, currant jelly 
with our roast mutton, capers with our boiled mut- 
ton, roast apple with our goose, and apple sauce 
with our roast pork. A good scientific reason for 

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EATING TO LIVE 

eating these fruits is that the fats of the meats 
with which they are eaten are, as a rule, neutral 
fats ; that is to say, they have not sufficient acid in 
them to cause the alkaline bile and pancreatic fluid 
to emulsify these fats, and the fruit acids here 
make up the deficiency in nature. We also use 
vinegar to dress our salads, because it dissolves the 
cellulose of the raw vegetable of the salad. The 
oil in the salad also makes the vinegar more ac- 
ceptable to the stomach. What a teacher nature is, 
anyhow ! 

Fruits contain much water, and the general 
make-up is finished with sugars, starches, the gel- 
atinous substance called pectin, acids, and cellulose, 
the cellular tissue, compound of carbon, hydrogen, 
and oxygen. When fresh they are markedly anti- 
scorbutic and appetizing. Pectin is a carbohydrate, 
and the quince contains a large amount of it, 
making it especially good for jelly. The acids of 
fruits are the citric, the tartaric, especially in the 
grape, and the malic, which exists largely in the 
apple particularly. 

The organic acids are in union with alkalies, and 
these form salts, and these salts are split up in the 
system and leave the alkalies free, which usually 
combine and form carbonates or phosphates with 
acids found in the body. Again, this is a fact of 
great importance both practically and scientifically. 
. 13 J 93 



EATING TO LIVE 

Why do we give lemon juice and expect benefit, in 
rheumatic fever for instance, when the blood is so 
acid already that the profuse perspirations change 
litmus blue to red almost by their fumes before 
contact? We can answer, in giving lemon juice in 
such cases, or any other fruit juice, we do not 
give it as an acid to increase the already over-acid 
condition of the blood. We give it, paradoxical as 
it may appear, as an alkali, to increase the alka- 
linity of the blood, bringing this about by the citric 
acid of the lemon, being combined with salts, and 
these salts splitting up and reappearing as carbon- 
ates and phosphates, and these reducing the acidity 
of the blood, and thus aiding the return to health 
of the rheumatic condition. Even if the citric acid 
of the lemon is free, it meets salts in the system, 
and does the same good in a more direct way. This 
matter is all important. Thus acid fruits are not 
an acid diet, and do not by their acidity slow or 
check normal digestion. 

Such fruits as figs and prunes are useful me- 
chanically to free the slow bowels, as by their seeds 
and skins they encourage peristalsis, etc., and hence 
relieve constipation and its kindred ills. They are 
thus most useful fruits in more ways than one. 

Some fruits contain a little fat and waxy mat- 
ter, as the olive, but, as a rule, sugars and starches 
predominate, with a very little nitrogen in the 

194 



EATING TO LIVE 

shape of vegetable albumin. Their aroma and 
flavor are given by various essential oils and com- 
pound ethers inherent in them and generated in the 
ripening of the fruit. The mango steen of Borneo 
and the durian of Java are said to hold these above 
all others and to be the most luscious of all fruits. 
The cultivation of sour fruits, whether in a tem- 
perate or a hot climate, reduces the acid in them 
and improves their aroma and flavor. 

There is one thing always to remember in eat- 
ing fruit of any and all kinds, — they are invariably 
an inviting host for all pathogenic and other germs, 
and should never be eaten until the outer skin has 
been removed or until they have been thoroughly 
washed and cleansed. The boy's green-apple belly- 
ache comes as often from the pathogenic germs 
that go down with his apples as from any indiges- 
tible properties pertaining to the fruit he has eaten. 
A good anecdote is told of the great Pasteur, who, 
above all other men, probably knew of the risks we 
run from taking in pathogenic germs with our food. 
Pasteur was dining, and among other things cher- 
ries were served with the fruit. Pasteur was very 
careful to thoroughly wash his cherries before eat- 
ing them, and delivered quite a lecture on patho- 
genic germs and their dangers, to those about the 
table, among whom were several children. The 
dinner finished, Pasteur, wanting water, in the 

i95 



EATING TO LIVE 

absent-minded way often attributed to great men, 
quaffed off the water in which he had washed his 
cherries, and the children chaffed him in great glee. 
Here were two object-lessons in nature study, one 
on absent-mindedness, and one on pathogenic 
germs. 

Fruits are usually classified as stone fruits, 
pomes, or the fleshy fruits, like the apple or pear, 
berries, capsules, or covered fruits, and the pepos, 
or melon family. Some, like the banana and the 
date, will support life for a long time, on account 
of the great amount of sugar in them; others, 
like the pear and the apple, are helps in the general 
diet; and others again have less nutritive value 
than these, but have their uses as appetizers and 
digesters, as the papaw and the pineapple. 

Thompson sums up the uses of fruits in the 
animal economy as follows: 

To furnish Nutriment. 

To convey water to the system and relieve thirst. 
To introduce various salts and organic acids, 
which improve the quality of the blood and react 
favorably upon the secretions. 

As Antiscorbutics. 

As diuretics, and to lessen the acidity of the 
urine. They do this owing to the decomposition 

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EATING TO LIVE 

of various alkaline salts in the blood or tissues, 
which are reformed into alkaline carbonates, and 
as such are excreted. For this reason fruit is 
good for gout and the gouty diathesis, because it 
prevents the accumulation of acid urates. 

As Laxatives and Cathartics. 

To stimulate the appetite, improve digestion, 
and give variety in the diet. As special cures for 
certain diseases, like the grape-cure, although 
their specific action is very doubtful. The apple, 
lime, lemon, and orange have much potash, lime, 
and magnesia in their composition, and are the 
antiscorbutic fruits par excellence. Peaches may 
be added to these. The most nutritious fruits are 
the sweet and starchy fruits, and are the banana, 
the fig, the date, the plum, and the grape. The 
most watery of fruits are the melons, the citrus 
fruits, as oranges, limes, lemons, and shaddocks, 
together with grapes. 

The ripening of fruit is an interesting process. 

The absorption of oxygen by the fruit has much 

to do with it. The contained acids and the tannin 

are altered by this as time goes on and the as- 

tringency and the acidity of the fruit decrease, the 

starch going into levulose or glucose, and the 

gelatinous pectin is formed. Now, with these the 

volatile ethers and oils appear, and the fruit is ripe, 

197 



EATING TO LIVE 

or fit to eat, and this ripe condition increases until 
the fermentations of decay start up and the fruit 
returns to its original elements, just as do all other 
organic bodies. 

Thompson gives the most digestible fruits as 
grapes, oranges, lemons, cooked apples, figs, 
peaches, strawberries, and raspberries. I look upon 
strawberries and raspberries as fruit not to be 
eaten in too large quantities by the gouty and the 
rheumatic. The acids of these have less tendency 
to combine with bases during digestion, and thus 
they leave more free acid than other fruits to dis- 
turb the alkalinity of the blood. Not so digestible 
as the other fruits given in the list before mentioned 
are melons, prunes, plums, raw apples, pears, apri- 
cots, bananas, and fresh currants. Of course, in 
all this much depends upon the condition of the 
fruit as to ripeness, etc., and the idiosyncrasies of 
the individual. The most useful fruits for in- 
valids are, oranges, lemons, baked apples and pears, 
peaches, stewed prunes, grapes, and the meal made 
from the banana, but not the fresh banana, — it is 
too sweet and too starchy. 

Fruit syrups and fruit juices have their place in 
diet and should be made from fresh fruit. Both 
are equally good when the materials are in proper 
condition. Lemonade, orangeade, raspberryade, 
raspberry vinegar, and such compounds are much 

198 



EATING TO LIVE 

used and should be made from the juices of the 
fresh fruit, when obtainable, especially lemonade. 
Circus lemonade is made from citric and tartaric 
acid and colored, perhaps, with some aniline dye 
to make it pretty. Such a drink has no call for 
either the sick or the well. For the sick, lemonade 
and orangeade made from the effervescing waters 
are among the best and most invigorating, and 
such drinks should not be overlooked. 

Dried fruits are fruits from which the water has 
been expelled, either by the sun or by artificial heat, 
and are preserved by their own sugar or glucose. 
Most of these are bleached by sulphur fumes. 
While this may do no great harm to them as arti- 
cles of food, it surely can do no good, and is a 
trick of the trade that should be stopped. 

Preserves we are all familiar with. They are, 

as a rule, indigestible, containing a large excess 

of sugar, and are more and more being superseded 

by canned, tinned, or bottled fruits. Here the 

fruits are heated to destroy the bacteria present in 

them and then are hermetically sealed, and will 

keep in this condition just so long as no fresh air 

enters to bring new bacteria among them to set 

up fermentation. Remember one point: After a 

tin can has been opened, immediately empty it, 

and keep the contents until used in a china or glass 

bowl. If left in the can, the contents soon become 

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EATING TO LIVE 

poisonous and unfit for food, The very finest and 
best of the fruits, and, in fact, all other articles of 
food preserved in this way, are done up in glass. 
They are probably more expensive, but are in every 
way safer, for there are many reasons why metal 
cans and metal soldering, together with the acids 
of the contents, may react on the consumers and 
produce metallic poisoning, especially lead poison- 
ing. The competition in trade causes many of the 
canners to use low-grade tin, the tern plate, which 
is little more than iron with a coating of lead; 
indeed, in this quality of metal there is little or 
• no tin, and if the cans are recklessly soldered so 
the solder may enter and mingle with the contents, 
then doubly unfortunate are those who consume it. 
Remember as to all preserved, or canned, or other- 
wise treated fruits, they lack the elements of fresh- 
ness, and for some unexplained reason they are 
not nearly so useful as antiscorbutics as are the 
fresh fruits or vegetables. 

To show the importance of fruit to the American 
people as a part of their diet, let me give a short 
review, the facts for which I obtain from govern- 
ment publications and my own experience. The 
early Colonists found here many wild fruits, ber- 
ries, grapes, and nuts. From these selections were 
made, and these were cultivated and improved, and 
foreign slips and cuttings were planted and 

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EATING TO LIVE 

grafted. In 1821 about three millions of pounds 
of dried fruits were imported. Apples were the 
first fruit we exported successfully. John Bar- 
tram, of Philadelphia, the well-known originator of 
Bartram's Garden at Gray's Ferry in that city, a 
part of which is the East wick property, and now 
a public park, grew on these grounds the well- 
known Newtown Pippin apple, which he success- 
fully exported to England by sailing vessels, the 
trip consuming on an average, for the eastern voy- 
age, forty days. In 1821 we imported over two 
millions of pounds of raisins. In 1894 California 
alone exported one hundred and three millions of 
pounds. It is not generally known that the dried 
currant as imported is not a true currant, but a 
small seedless raisin from Greece. They can be 
grown and cured in California, but the business is 
not very profitable. Plums are growing to be a 
large item of fruits in this country, and prunes are 
already a very large item and are rapidly driving 
out the foreign product. In 1896 California pro- 
duced over fifty-five million pounds; to-day the 
increase is large. Figs are now raised and cured 
in this country in quite large quantities. 

Science has come to the aid of the Smyrna fig 
industry, in California by importing a fig ferti- 
lizing insect from Turkey and thus assuring a crop 

where before the introduction of this insect the 

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EATING TO LIVE 

crop on these trees was a general failure. The 
insect stands well the California climate, and suc- 
cess is assured, and the wonders brought about by- 
science are here again illustrated. 

Dates are not yet grown commercially in this 
country, nor are tamarinds. The United States 
Department of Agriculture is now experimenting 
with the date in the Southwest, and expect to suc- 
cessfully introduce the business commercially into 
this country. 

The citrus fruits are grown largely in Califor- 
nia, Florida, Arizona, and some in Louisiana. 
Florida oranges, considering the care and atten- 
tion given to them in selection and cultivation, are 
doubtless the finest of any in the world. The Cali- 
fornia oranges are chiefly the Bahia variety, or, as 
otherwise called, the Washington Navels and 
Riverside Navels. 

Here is a conundrum I once heard from the 
irrepressible child, brought in for dessert at a large 
dinner party. Several had been told when the 
child bolted in with hers. " Why are some oranges 
like all people?" No one responded successfully. 
"Give it up?" "Yes, all give it up." "Well, 
because they have navels." " Silence, little miss, 
horrid child," from several. " Honi soit qui mal y 
pense," ejaculated the proud father, and the con- 
versation went on. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

California is indeed a wonderful State. I have 
been on the summit of the Sierra Nevada Moun- 
tains, and could have jumped into a snow-bank that 
would have buried me many times over my head. 
In two hours by rail you could land and pick 
oranges and lemons from the trees and see palms 
flourishing in the open air. I have seen the same 
conditions at Nice and Monte Carlo on the Ri- 
viera, but the surroundings there are more artificial. 

Australia is a great fruit country. The pine- 
apple, the grape, and the banana are grown in 
Queensland. The grape, the orange, the apple, and 
the peach are grown to perfection in New South 
Wales and South Australia. Western Australia is 
a great grape country; in Tasmania they grow 
among the finest apples and pears in the world, 
and ship them to Europe in cold storage success- 
fully. The strawberries, raspberries, currants, and 
gooseberries of Tasmania are also noted. 

I have seen fine peaches in London in March, 
shipped in cold storage from South Africa. I have 
seen peaches and plums from South Africa in 
Philadelphia in March. These shipments I think 
will not be successful. To pay twenty-five cents 
for a single peach which looks well on the outside 
and when you open it shows only the flesh as 
semidry spunk will not encourage a second ven- 
ture on such lines. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

In the Australian countries fruit is so abundant 
that, in the season, pineapples can be purchased 
at three cents each, United States money, grapes 
at from five to six cents per pound, Mandarin 
oranges for one cent per dozen, and bananas for 
from two to four cents per dozen. 

If we reflect, we see that when the trees of Aus- 
tralia are in bloom our trees here are about ma- 
turing their crop, and vice versa, they being about 
as far south of the equator as we are north of it. 
The same is about true of South Africa. By the 
application of modern methods and modern ideas 
all the world is one. 

In Australia the consumption of fruit by all 
classes of people is enormous and thoroughly ex- 
plodes the idea that fruit causes general intestinal 
disturbances and is unhealthy. The death-rate in 
these countries is very low. There are luncheon 
shops in all the towns of Australia, Tasmania, and 
New South Wales where fruit is given, all one 
can eat, with a cup of tea, coffee, or milk, for 
from ten to twelve cents. These shops are used 
by all classes for the mid-day meal, and the people 
patronizing them are usually strong and healthy. 
In summer the weather is usually very hot, and 
fruit ices are used to a large extent. There are 
many of what are called tea-rooms for women ex- 
clusively; the attendants are women, who in their 

204 



EATING TO LIVE 

black dresses, white aprons, and white caps have 
a neat and attractive look. In these rooms six 
cents is paid for a cup of tea or coffee, with bread 
and butter and all the fruit one can eat. I men- 
tion these matters here because I think such ar- 
rangements for both men and women should be 
encouraged in this country, for the Australian peo- 
ple are a strong, vigorous, sober, intelligent, and 
progressive race, and this strength and vigor comes, 
very much of it, from their environment and from 
the great quantities of fruits and other healthy 
food they so notably consume. 

In giving fruit with bread and butter and 
cereals, use the sweeter and subacid fruits to the 
exclusion of the very acid or sour fruits. The 
very acid fruits may affect digestion of the starch 
in the bread and cereals, as they may not be suf- 
ficiently combined with bases, but contain too much 
free acid. When the system appears to crave acids, 
eat sour fruit; do not drink vinegar and such. 

As to the peculiar medicinal properties of fruits 
and nuts, almonds are credited with giving brain 
power, juicy fruits give the higher brain and nerve 
power, apples give the brain rest, prunes are nerve 
sedatives. There are fruit cures, and several cen- 
turies ago medical men became enthusiastic over 
their medicinal virtues, and grapes and strawberries 
to the amount of many pounds a day were recom- 

205 



EATING TO LIVE 

mended to be eaten. Here certainly was an oppor- 
tunity for nettle-rash to get in its work and for 
the vasomotor system to become embarrassed. 

The grape cure, not only for indigestion, but for 
various other ailments, is carried on at the present 
time to a considerable extent. Many persons 
flock every season to the Rhine vineyards, or to 
Italy and the south of France, to take the grape 
cure for from six weeks to two months, and are 
expected for that length of time to eat from five to 
ten pounds of grapes daily. Grapes are fattening, 
and hence are good for the tuberculous and dys- 
peptics, and they are also of service to the neuras- 
thenics. The grapes must be thoroughly ripe and 
of the best quality. Sour grapes are said to have 
the opposite effect. " The fathers have eaten sour 
grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge." 

The various pathogenic and other germs of the 
alimentary canal are said not to thrive at all in 
fruit juices, and this is given as the secret of the 
success of the various fruit cures. There is another 
way to look at it. Those who take these cures are 
generally high-livers, and are from the Carlsbad 
people, and the fruit cure to them is semistarva- 
tion, and semistarvation to them is just what they 
need for restoration to health. A course at Carls- 
bad is about one and the same thing with the grape 

cure. 

206 



EATING TO LIVE 

SPECIAL FRUITS. 

The Apple. — Chemically the apple is composed 
of vegetable fibre, albumin, sugar, gum, chloro- 
phyll, malic acid, gallic acid, lime, and much 
water. It also contains more phosphorus than 
any of the other fruits or vegetables. This is use- 
ful in forming the nervous matter of the brain and 
spinal cord and the general nervous system. What 
I have said of fruits in general will apply to apples 
and all fruits to follow, and I wish merely to call 
attention to the best of the species for all purposes, 
and especially for purposes of diet for the sick 
and for the well. 

The apple grows in most of the States of the 
Union, and is generally distributed over the world. 
Some varieties, of course, are better in some dis- 
tricts than in others, and some are known only 
in certain localities. Some of the handsomest 
apples are now coming from the Rocky-Mountain 
States and from the Pacific States. While beauti- 
ful to look at and many of them with good flavor, 
in the latter respect they are far behind the old 
varieties grown in the East. 

If purchasing apples in the market in the sum- 
mertime the best varieties to inquire for are the 
Summer Queen, a red apple, on a yellow ground; 
the Sweet Bough, a sweet apple, better for eating 

out of hand than for cooking, and in color a green- 

207 



EATING TO LIVE 

ish-yellow; the Red Astrachan, a beautiful red 
apple, crimson in its tints, which came to us from 
Russia. Another Russian apple is the Yellow 
Transparent. The Summer Permain is a beautiful 
red apple. 

The best of the fall apples are the Maiden's 
Blush, the Fallawater, or Tulpehocken, the King, 
Smith's Cider, Grimes Golden, and the Yellow 
Bell Flower — Belle Fleur. This last apple is, 
of all apples, facile princeps from October to 
Christmas. 

Winter Apples. 

Among the best are the Baldwin and the Spitzen- 
berg. In the trade this latter apple is called 
" Spitz. 9 ' It is not a very attractive-looking red 
apple, but taste it, and you will say there is a spici- 
ness, a flavor, that attracts you; and eat another, 
and you will say, surely this is the best apple I 
have ever eaten. It is very scarce in the market. 
New York State is the chief source of supply. 
There the trees are not doing well, and this makes 
the apple scarce and high in price. Never mind 
that, buy it at any price, if you want a delicious fruit 
to eat out of hand or to cook. The Newtown 
Pippin — Albemarle Pippin — is a grand apple, and 
the best specimens grow in the Shenandoah Valley, 
in Virginia, and its neighborhood, and in our 

208 



EATING TO LIVE 

markets it brings double the price of any other 
apple. It is a large yellowish-green apple. The 
stalk is short and deep set, and surrounded by 
light russet rays. 

When buying apples of any kind, always look 
for smooth, regular-shaped specimens. The ir- 
regular, knotty ones have been a prey to insects. 
Those with black and other dark spots have been 
a prey to fungi, and, as a rule, are what are called 
scabby, and have been raised by careless growers 
and are not first class. 

Another grand apple is the Carthouse (or Gil- 
pin) Apple. There are two species, the white flesh 
and the yellow flesh. The yellow flesh is far 
superior. Other good winter apples are the Rome 
Beauty, Stay man's Wine Sap, the Lady Apple, and 
the Moruen. The Morven is a seedling of the 
Lady Apple which I found growing on one of 
my fruit farms at New Castle, Delaware. Other 
good apples are Northern Spy, Smoke House, Rox- 
bury Russet, Swaar, York Imperial, and Stark. 

The diabetic sometimes has a great craving for 
an apple. The least objectionable are, the Red 
Astrachan, Summer Permain, Smith's Cider, Bell- 
Flower, Rome Beauty, Spitzenberg, Northern Spy, 
and York Imperial. In the spring, apples have 
more sugar, and should then be avoided by the dia- 
betic. 

14 209 



EATING TO LIVE 

Peaches. 

The chemical composition of the edible parts 
of the peach is as follows: Water, 93.7; proteids, 
.5; fat, .2; carbohydrates, 5.3; ash, 0.3. Fuel 
value per pound, 115. 

We can buy ripe peaches in the markets now 
through many months in the year. Florida and 
some of the extreme Southern States send us 
specimens of peaches in April and May. Georgia 
sends us good fruit from June through July. In 
August, September, and October we get our most 
delicious fruit, and it comes chiefly from Dela- 
ware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. 
New England now raises some good peaches, and 
Michigan and other Western States supply large 
markets. The improved distribution by the great 
railroads and the refrigerator car have brought all 
parts of the country close together, and these have 
been the means of giving us peaches and other 
fruits from California and the other Pacific States 
during many months of the year. As a rule, 
near-by peaches are the best in any market. The 
very early peaches in any locality are not the best. 

In lpuying peaches the following are all good 

varieties : Early Rivers, Troth, Mountain Rose, 

St. John, Foster, Crawford's Early and Crawford's 

Later; Old Mix on, wherever grown, is the very 

best as to flavor of all peaches, and Moore's Favor- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

ite is nearly the same peach. Reeve's Favorite is a 
grand yellow peach, and so is Susquehanna. El- 
berta is the great Georgia yellow peach. It is 
beautiful in appearance, but a little off in flavor. 
Georgia Bell is a better Georgia peach. Robinson 
Crusoe is said to have been the finest flavored 
peach ever grown, but is now extinct. The 
seed was brought from the island of Juan Fer- 
nandez by a son of Dr. Cox and planted in 
his father's yard at Ninth and Spruce Streets, 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Ward's Late Free, 
Chairs' Choice, Fox's Seedling, Smock, Doctor 
Black, White Heath Cling, and Salway are all 
good peaches. 

I look upon the peach particularly, but all fruits 
more or less, as very important articles of diet. 
The acids of the peach are very prone to break up 
the compounds of the waste substances, particu- 
larly of nitrogenous waste, and thus they are en- 
abled to pass off through the kidneys, and an excess 
of water drunk helps this passing off. These tis- 
sue wastes may be largely in the form of uric acid, 
and thus peaches particularly may help sufferers 
from rheumatism, gout, and allied disorders, by 
breaking up these compounds and placing them in a 
condition to be eliminated from the system, and 
thus relieving the toxaemia, for toxaemia it 
really is. 

211 



EATING TO LIVE 

Pears. 

The summer pears are perishable, but the late 
pears hold, many of them, up to Christmas, and 
by the use of cold storage can be held indefinitely, 
and are found in our markets up to warm weather 
in the spring. 

Pears are standard and dwarf. The pear is 
dwarfed by budding or grafting it on the quince. 
These dwarf trees are shorter lived than the stan- 
dards, but produce finer specimens of fruit. 

The Bartlett pear is one of the grandest of pears 
in any way. One of the best early pears is the 
Manning, and Doyenne d'Ete is a good one. 
Clapp's Favorite is a good pear. Duchess, Duch- 
esse d'Angouleme, is a very large pear and coarse 
of texture, but when well ripened is very palatable. 
It cooks well. Anjou is one of our very best and 
highest-flavored pears. The Howell is much like 
the Bartlett, and has a very white flesh. The 
Seek el is only excelled in flavor by Dana's Hovey, 
the highest flavored of all pears. These two pears 
are very late, in their prime in October, Novem- 
ber, and December. Lawrence comes later and is a 
delicious pear. Bosc is another delicious late pear ; 
and so is Sheldon. Kieifer and Garber are among 
the Oriental pears. They are not first class eaten 
out of hand, but are invaluable for canning and 
cooking. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

In season, which is prolonged, California sends 
us several good pears. The best are the Easter, 
the Bartlett, the Winter Nelis, the Anjou, and the 
Doyenne du Corniche. Winter Nelis is the best of 
these. The Bartlett s are beautiful but not equal 
in flavor to the Eastern Bartletts. The three 
highest flavored pears are the Dana's Hovey, the 
Seckel, and the Bosc, in the order here named. 

The chemical composition of the pear is as 
follows: Water, 74.1; proteids, 1.2; fat, 8; car- 
drates, 14.2; ash, .5. Fuel value per pound, 310. 

Pears are stronger food than peaches, but not 
as strong as apples. 

Grapes. 

The chemical composition of grapes is as fol- 
lows: Edible portion, water, 78.8; proteids, 1.3; 
fat, 1.7; carbohydrates, 17.7; ash, .5. Fuel value 
per pound, 425. Probably a little stronger than 
apples. 

The best grapes grown in the Eastern United 
States for eating purposes, are as follows : Moore's 
Early, a large early black grape with blue bloom. 
Worden, superior to the Concord, but more rare 
in market. We see the Concord grape in our mar- 
kets oftener than any other. It is a large purplish- 
black grape. Not of a very high flavor, but a 

very useful grape for all purposes. Delaware and 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Catawba are both very highly flavored grapes of 
the American type. Martha is a white grape of 
high flavor. Niagara and Empire State are both 
good white grapes. Porklington is another good 
white grape. Clinton is chiefly used for wine. The 
before-mentioned grapes are all of the American 
varieties by the fact that the skins are thick, the 
pulp holds the seeds interwoven with it, and the 
pulp comes out of the skins holding the seeds, and 
when eaten we usually swallow seeds and pulp 
and discard only the skin. In the European 
varieties of grapes the seeds are merely set in the 
pulp unattached, and can be picked out like the 
kernels of a nut, and we eat skin and pulp, dis- 
carding only the seeds. Most of the California 
grapes we get in the market are of the European 
variety, and far excel any we can raise in the 
open air east of the Rocky Mountains. The Tokay 
is a beautiful large red grape we see so many of 
in baskets, holding from five to eight pounds. It is 
more common here than any of the Pacific Coast 
grapes. Muscat is the highest flavored of the 
California grapes. It is a white grape of the true 
Muscat flavor and aroma, and is a revelation to 
grape-eaters. The Muscatelle is a white grape of 
the same flavor as the Muscat. 

Emperor is a red grape from California. Mo- 
rocco is a black round grape. Ferdel is a white 

214 



EATING TO LIVE 

grape not often seen in our markets. Comichon 
is a large black, egg-shaped grape. It is of the 
American type where the pulp and seeds inter- 
mingle. It has a thick skin. 

Raisins. — The California raisins are now prob- 
ably the best in the world. The climate is most 
suitable, and the grapes from which they are made 
are in every way satisfactory. 

Coleman Grape. — This is a large black grape 
with stems often half an inch in diameter, which 
we see in the fancy fruit stores, the bunches weigh- 
ing pounds and selling for fabulous prices. These 
grapes are imported from England, where they 
are grown under glass as one of the luxuries. 
The English and French fruits, including peaches, 
plums, apricots, and such, are grown under glass 
or protected in some way, and are magnificent; 
they are perishable, and of course we rarely see 
them here; even then they are only luxuries those 
in affluent circumstances can enjoy. 

We grow here under glass very fine grapes of 
the European type which are of exquisite flavor and 
full aroma. Among the best are Black Hamburg, 
a very large black grape; Sweet Water, a white 
grape of good flavor, and the Muscat, always 
fragrant and always acceptable to sick or well. 
The white Almeria grapes come to us from 
Spain, on the borders of the Mediterranean, and, 

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EATING TO LIVE 

although rather insipid, fill a void when no other 
grape is in the market. 

Apricots. — The apricot is a delicious fruit, 
coming as it does very early in the season, between 
cherries and peaches, and from California we get 
them quite early in the spring. The California 
apricots hold the Eastern market, because so few 
are raised here owing to the attacks of the curculio 
and worms at the collar of the trees. In the East 
the Russian varieties do best, and the best of these 
is the Harris Hardy, which is of higher flavor than 
the California varieties. Others we grow in the 
East are Early Golden, Acme, Mo or park, and 
Roman. Gibbs is an early one and Budd a late 
one. Apricots are raised on peach stocks, on 
almond stocks, on apricot stocks, and on Myrobolan 
plum stocks. The best California apricots are 
New Castle, Russian, Moorpark, Blenheim, and 
Royal. The apricot is naturally more nearly allied 
to the plum than to the peach, having the broad 
leaf and the smooth stone of the plum, but having 
down on its skin like the peach. 

Nectarines. — On the other hand, the nectarine is 
a peach, with a smooth, glossy skin like the plum. 
As a fruit it is inferior to both the peach and the 
plum. It has more of the Noyou flavor than has 
the peach. Among the better varieties are the 
Downton, Boston, New White, Old White, Lord 
Napier, Elruge, and Golden. 

216 



EATING TO LIVE 

Plums. — The plum is a popular fruit, and we 
may look for a great increase in its cultivation in 
the East and a great increase of the fruit in the 
markets. Of our native plums there are varieties 
without end. The Nigra group is for the far-off 
Northwest, and they will give those people a hardy 
fruit for their inhospitable climate. The Miner 
group is for the Eastern United States. The Way- 
land group is a hardy group. The Wild Goose 
group is the profitable group for the East south of 
New York and his cousin in the West. The 
Chickasaw is the group for the South of our 
country. 

There are the Watsoni group, the Marianna 
group, the Maritima, the Prunus Besseyan (the 
sand cherry), the mongrels, and others not yet 
classified. Truly a great class of fruits, and one 
destined to do great good as it goes on in its evolu- 
tion to perfect types. 

The next type of plums is the TriHora group, 
-or the Japan plums. Much of this fruit comes to 
us now from California, and the beautiful large 
plums we see in the fruit stores are mostly from 
this source. Delaware, Maryland, and New Jersey 
are growing them now in perfection, and our sup- 
ply of the future will be, much of it, from these 
States. The best varieties are the Abundance, 
Berckmans, Burbank, Hale, Kelsey, Kerr, Red 

June, White Kelsey, Yosebe, and Chabot. 

217 



EATING TO LIVE 

Plums, apricots, nectarines, and prunes are some- 
what stronger food than peaches, especially in car- 
bohydrates. The fuel value per pound of plums is 
390; of fresh prunes, 300; of dried prunes, 1360; 
of nectarines, 305 ; of apricots, 270. Many of the 
old plums may still be found in market, and 
among the best are the Lombard, the Red Gage, 
Smith's Orleans, Washington, Green Gage, Im- 
perial Gage, Damson, and others. 

Fresh Prunes. — If we get fresh prunes here in 
the East they probably come from California. 
Prunes are plums, — that is the long and the short 
of it. A fresh prune is a plum of a variety which 
when dried in a peculiar way makes the dried 
prunes or prunes of our market. A dry climate 
suits them best, and this is why California is run- 
ning away from France in this industry. In France 
they are kiln dried. In California they are sun 
dried, a better and much cheaper method. There 
is a large prune industry developing in Oregon, 
Washington, and Idaho. Here they are nearly all 
cured in evaporators by artificial heat, and of course 
it costs more than the California method. 

Prunellos are plums, sometimes called Prunelles. 
They are dried and packed in regular masses like 
dates, and come in boxes or mats. They cook 
fairly well and make good food of their kind. 

Date Plum. — Some species of this tree produce 

ebony, and are valuable trees. They are of the 

218 



EATING TO LIVE 

genus Diospyros, belonging to the natural order 
Ebenacece. The chief species from which the fruit 
comes is the Diospyros Kaki, or Chinese date plum. 
Our common persimmon is of this genus, the Dios- 
pyros Virginiana, and is quite a good fruit after 
it has been well frosted and developed its sugar. 
We are all familiar with dates, how they come in 
mats. They have a good flavor, and are a useful 
fruit for many purposes. 

The Diospyros Kaki gives us the Japanese per- 
simmon. We see them in market fresh from Cali- 
fornia, and some from as far north as Maryland. 
These fruits are high in carbohydrates, especially. 
Fuel value per pound, 1565. 

Tamarinds come from the tree, Tamarindus in- 
dica. The fruit is a pod from two to six inches 
long, containing seeds or beans, with a pulp some- 
thing like our common locust bean. The pulp, put 
up with sugar, gives us tamarinds as we get them. 

Mango. — We get this green as a pickle or as a 
preserve with sugar. In Chutney we get it from 
the East Indies. The recipe of Major Grey is 
celebrated. Chutney makes a good jam to sub- 
stitute the almost universal breakfast dish of the 
Englishman. It has stomachic properties which 
the jams and marmalades in common use have not. 

Mangosteen. — We never see this in the United 
States. It is a fruit of the tropics, especially of 

219 



EATING TO LIVE 

the Oriental tropics. They are of about the shape 
and size of the orange, and have a broad, peltate, 
lobed stigma. The rind is like that of the pome- 
granate ; it is also something like the pomegranate 
in structure. It is at first green, and changes to 
dark brown. It is said to be the most luscious of 
fruits, the pulp and juice a mingling of the straw- 
berry and grape. It is absolutely healthy, and can 
be eaten with safety in the tropics in great quan- 
tities by both the sick and the well. 

The Durian is another of the oriental tropical 
fruits. It is a most delicious fruit. The tree bear- 
ing it is known as the Durio, of the family Ster- 
culiacea?, the only known species of its genus, Durio 
Zibethinus. The fruit is round or oval and nearly 
a foot long. It has a hard rind, with prickles. It 
has five cells, each with several seeds. The pulp 
is of light yellow, with a delicious flavor, and an 
odor not at all inviting. The seeds are cooked and 
eaten like nuts. 

We are beginning to see the Cactus Fig in our 
markets. It is rather a mean thing in fruits and 
sticks your fingers more than it tickles your palate. 

Papaw. — This fruit grows wild in many parts 
of the United States, especially in the Southwest. 
It doubtless has some power of helping the diges- 
tion of the albuminoids. It is somewhat on the 
order of the fig and is eaten when very ripe. 

220 



EATING TO LIVE 

Pomegranate. — This is more of a tropical fruit 
and to me tastes something like syrup of squill, 
which I remember with sorrow as having been 
poured down me when a child suffering from a 
cold. It probably is about as good a fruit as squill 
is a medicine. This is the best I can say of it. 

Figs (fruit of Ficus Carica). — The fresh fig is 
very sweet and we are probably all familiar with 
them, especially with the dried ones. They are 
cured by artificial heat and by sun and air. They 
have a reputation as an aperient; this is probably 
on account of the peristalsis produced by the physi- 
cal action of the seeds. 

Guava (from the fruit of the Psidium Guaiava). 
— The fruit is bright yellow and very fragrant; 
indeed, so fragrant is it that the taste appears in- 
sipid after the delightful odor. It comes to us 
chiefly from Florida and the West Indies. The 
jelly made from it is delightful. 

Alligator Pear (Persea Gratessima). — This 
fruit is a native of the West Indies and of tropical 
America. The leaves and the bark have some 
reputation as an antiperiodic. I have eaten them 
on the western coast of Mexico, where they are 
highly esteemed as a breakfast course. 

Alligator Apple (fruit of the West Indian tree 
Anona Palustris). — I give it here merely to dis- 
tinguish it from the Alligator pear. It is used 

221 



EATING TO LIVE 

medicinally as an astringent, chiefly in Mexico. It 
is known as the Custard Apple. 

The Cocoanut (fruit of the Cocos Nucifera). — 
One of the best known of the palm trees, and 
which always greets us as we approach the shores 
of the tropical islands. It flourishes only near the 
sea; it will grow inland in hot countries, but is 
unfruitful there. The blossoms are very beautiful. 
The clusters of blossoms are produced every six 
weeks during the wet season, and each cluster pro- 
duces a number of nuts. In planting nuts, the 
three black spots, or monkey eyes, are set upward, 
and from one of these eyes the stem emerges. In 
the tropics the trees live one hundred years, in 
greenhouses ten to twelve years. The wood is 
known as porcupine wood. The large leaves are 
used for clothing and to build huts. They are also 
used for writing on and for fans, fences, nets, 
sieves, combs, etc. Of the husks, scrubbing 
brushes, ropes, and such utensils are made. 

The juice extracted from the flowers makes a 
drink. Fermented it makes palm wine; distilled, 
it yields arrack, like that obtained from rice. The 
nuts when green contain quite a quantity of fluid. 
This is much used as a cooling drink, and the 
gelatinous mass lining the shells is eaten alone or 
flavored to suit the taste. If too much of the juice 
is taken it irritates the urinary organs. It contains 

222 



EATING TO LIVE 

sugar, water, gum, oils, soluble and insoluble salts. 

What we know as cocoanut is the albumin, etc., 
deposited on the inside of the shells. It is eaten 
raw, or dried and prepared as we see it in the 
market. 

The chemical analysis is as follows : Water, 3.5 ; 
proteids, 6.3; fat, 57.4; carbohydrates, 31.5; ash, 
1.3. Fuel value per pound, 3125. Quite a strong 
combination truly. 

There is much oil extracted from the cocoanut, 
which makes the finest soaps, candles, and such, 
and for body lubrication it is unsurpassed. The 
cocoanut is a digester of albumoses, and an active 
one, from a proteolytic ferment which it contains. 

Banana. — A plant of the group Musa. The 
banana is Musa Sapientum, the plantain is Musa 
paradisiaca. We buy in our markets plantains for 
bananas, and bananas for plantains. For food 
there is not much difference. They come yellow 
and red. The red are usually larger. 

The chemical analysis of the banana is about as 
follows: Water, 71.1; proteids, 1.2; fat, .8; car- 
bohydrates, 22.9; ash, .1. Fuel value per pound, 
480. Compare this with boiled white potatoes and 
we see how nearly they approach. The potato has 
most of its carbohydrates in starch, and the ba- 
nana in sugar and starch. The sweet potato 
has both sugar and starch. Boiled white potato: 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Water, 73.7; proteids, 2.7 \ fat, .2; carbohydrates, 

22.3; ash, 1.1. Boiled sweet potato : Water, 69.3; 

proteids, 1.8; fat, .7; carbohydrates, 27.1; ash, 

1.1. Fuel value per pound, white potatoes, 475; 

sweet potatoes, 565. Here we read the values as 

food of the three great staples — the sweet potato, 

the white potato, and the banana. 

The banana grows from the slip ; that is to say, 

they cut the plant off at the ground and transplant 

it. I have seen them brought from the West 

Indies and planted in Florida in this way, and they 

thrive in the southern part. The fruit is very 

green when cut to ship North, and suffers in flavor 

to that cut and ripened in the tropics. Formerly 

much was lost in shipping, but now fast steamers 

bring them in three or four days from Jamaica, 

Cuba, and other nearer islands, and now we are 

getting the fruit in good shape compared with the 

earlier days. Fifty years ago the banana was 

almost a curiosity in our Northern cities, now they 

are a staple article of diet, and a very wholesome 

one. In the tropics the banana is the eating variety, 

and the plantain usually the variety they cook in 

various ways. They are fried, baked, and made 

into pies and puddings. Bananas are dressed with 

wine, with sugar, and cream, and with wine and 

orange and other juices. I think the devil is 

the author of some of these mixtures, by which he 

224 



EATING TO LIVE 

hopes to inveigle some foolish mortals he has set 
his keen eyes upon. 

The natives cut bananas into strips and dry them, 
and mash this up and eat it. We are getting now 
into our market a banana meal. This, I think, 
will prove an acceptable preparation. It may be 
eaten after cooking as we eat porridge. In eating 
the banana out of hand it should be very ripe, and 
it is not very ripe until the skin has softened and 
turned well black. Fermentation has not com- 
menced on the inside when the skin is quite dark. 

Pineapple. — This is another of the tropical fruits 
rapid transit is putting in our markets in prime con- 
dition. In the parlance of trade they are called 
" Pines.' ' It takes its name from its resemblance 
to the pine-cone. Botanically it is Anallassa Sa- 
tiva. It belongs to the family Bromeliaceoe. From 
this its active principle, bromelin, takes its name. 
We formerly looked on the pineapple as a most un- 
wholesome fruit in every way, as a breeder of all 
sorts of diseases, especially of cholera. How little 
we knew then of the origin of such troubles, and 
the merits and demerits of things to be eaten. 

If prepared properly, pineapple is a most digesti- 
ble fruit; and is a digester itself of albuminoids, 
from the ferment bromelin it contains, as before 
spoken of. The wrong way to eat pineapple is to 
shred it and throw away the core and the skin, for 
15 225 



EATING TO LIVE 

in the core and fibre and skin resides the bromelin. 
The proper way to eat pineapple is to shred it and 
then squeeze all the juice out of the core and skin, 
spread it over the pineapple, and eat it thus, plain 
or sweetened, and after eating — not before eating 
— other things. The proper time to eat pineapple 
is after dinner or after a " dejeuner a la four- 
chette." Then the bromelin assists the digestion of 
all the albuminoids consumed at the meal. So 
powerful is this bromelin that if persons eat the 
skin, the core, and the fibre, particularly, the ten- 
der skin and mucous membrane of the lips and 
tongue and inside of the mouth go through a 
process of digestion in spots, and pineapple sore 
mouth is developed. Here is a scientific explana- 
tion of what anyone knows comes now and again 
from eating pineapple. The best preventive is to 
cleanse the mouth and lips with water, or some of 
the essential oil waters, after having eaten this fruit. 
I frequently prescribe, with very good results, 
pineapple juice for the dyspepsia arising from the 
indigestion of the nitrogenous foods. This juice, 
to be effective, should be made from the fresh fruit, 
using the skin, core, fibre, and all, and then strain- 
ing it. A wineglassf ul or more may be taken after 
eating. If you cannot get the fresh juice, you may 
use the juice of the shops, with more or less effect, 
but the fresh juice is the best, as it is of all fruits 

226 



EATING TO LIVE 

for all purposes. The best and finest pineapples 
I ever saw, was in Panama, near where they were 
grown, on the Island of Toboga, in Panama Bay. 

The chemical analysis of the pineapple is as 
follows: Water, 89.3; proteids, .4; fat, .3; carbo- 
hydrates, 9.7; ash, .3. Fuel value per pound, 200. 

The Orange. — The queen of the citrus fruits, 
Citrus Aurantium, and other varieties. The other 
citrus fruits are the lime, the lemon, the citron, the 
bergamot, and the shaddock. In Europe the 
orange grows as far north as 42 °. It will not do 
that in our country east of the Rocky Mountains. 
They grow the best in the world in Florida ; they 
also grow in Louisiana and Mississippi, and a few 
in Texas, Georgia, and Alabama. In Arizona they 
grow to perfection, and in California they are a 
staple crop, being chiefly of the seedless Navel, 
so called ; they are a Bahia orange. 

Our Consul there found that they grew wild 
in the surrounding jungles. He sent a few cut- 
tings to the Agricultural Department at Washing- 
ton, and Mr. Saunders succeeded in growing a few 
of them, some of which he gave to Mrs. Luther C. 
Tibbetts, of California, who took them to her hus- 
band, Luther C. Tibbetts, at Riverside, California. 
He succeeded with them, and to him is due the 
honor of introducing the Navel orange from Bahia, 

Brazil, into California. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

The orange is a native of India, and grows wild 
along the southern slope of the Himalaya Moun- 
tains among the tributaries of the Ganges. They 
were brought to the United States from Europe. 
The seedling orange tree is known to exist over 
six hundred years. The seedling trees live much 
better and longer than the grafted trees; in fact, 
grafting is a devitalizing process as far as the 
orange goes, if it does not apply to all grafted trees. 
The grafted orange-trees give us better fruit and 
commence to bear earlier, but their limit of useful 
life is about twenty-five years. 

The chemical analysis of the orange is as fol- 
lows: Water, 88.3; proteids, .8; fat, .6; carbohy- 
drates, 9.7; ash, .6. Fuel value per pound, 220. 

Really the best oranges I ever tasted I bought 
in Acapulco, on the western coast of Mexico. 
They were a very small yellow orange, grown 
on the mountain-slopes, and were probably seed- 
lings, as the Mexicans did not give much care 
to improving the natural character of their 
fruits. 

The sweet orange is the Citrus Aurantium, as 
before stated. The bitter orange is the Citrus 
Vulgaris. We have no use for it except for its 
bitter peel now and then, and to send it to the 
Scotchman with which to flavor his Dundee jam 

or marmalade. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

We all know of the uses of orange blossoms, for 
their lovely perfume, for the adornment of the 
bride where they are classic, and for the making of 
orange flower water. In the orange countries we 
see the blossoms on the trees and the fruit of the 
last season still hanging, truly an enchanting scene, 
and the melting odors from the bloom render the 
surroundings ravissement. 

The best oranges we get, as I have said before, 
come from Florida. The Indian Rivers are the 
best of these. They also send us some very fine 
Navels. The special oranges are the Mandarins 
and the Tangerines, the Chinese types, those little 
oranges which slip from their skins like walnuts 
from their hulls, and in doing so do not soil your 
kid glove; they have a flavor and odor of their 
own, and to some they are very palatable. There 
is another little curiosity of the citrus type, the cute 
little Cumquat, or Chinese orange. They are a 
condensation of lusciousness and full of aroma. 
You eat them skin and all, and to the sick and 
weary invalid they are often a revelation, and help 
his lagging digestion. They come to us from 
Florida. Jamaica sends us good oranges, but 
California can supply the world. Manifest des- 
tiny, it appears now, will soon literally smother 
us with such luxuries from our new colonial pos- 
sessions. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Shaddock. — The fruit of the Citrus decumana, 
the word decumana referring to its size, — immense. 
It is supposed to be the " forbidden fruit" and 
was introduced into the West Indies from China 
by an English sea-captain, Shaddock by name. It 
comes to us now from the West Indies and Florida 
chiefly, as grape fruit. The quality of the fruit is 
inferior : it is at once sour, bitter, and unpleasant, 
but has become popular to eat before breakfast as a 
peristaltic persuader, and is also used at ladies' 
luncheons, but is here dressed with sugar and 
sherry and other wines to make it palatable. The 
devil, I am sure, had something to do with the 
invention of this last concoction, and women are 
still using it to tempt their own sex, if not to 
tempt man. 

Olives. — The fruit of the Olea Euro pee a, or 
common olive. The lilac and the ash, among our 
well-known trees, come under the same order as 
the olive. They furnish us with olive oil and the 
fruit. The oil we are all familiar with, or, rather, 
we suppose we are, but much of what we get in the 
shops for pure olive oil is expressed from cotton- 
seed and peanuts, both of which, by the way, when 
properly handled, make fair table oils. True olive 
oil, as we find it in Italy, would not suit our tastes 
in America at all. It is dark and heavy, with a 
strong taste and odor peculiarly its own. It is 

230 



EATING TO LIVE 

remarkable how one gets accustomed to it and 
comes to like it. It is like leaving France and her 
sweet saltless butter and going to England and 
eating her salted butter. At first the difference is 
marked, but we soon become accustomed to it. 
The oil is gotten from the fruit by expression, and 
as fine as I ever tasted was at the home of my friend 
the late Tiburcio Parrott, in the Napa Valley, Cali- 
fornia, who was a pioneer in raising olives and 
expressing the oil in California. He paid great 
attention to the getting of a good quality of oil, 
and California and her olive interests lost a good 
and progressive helper when he died. 

For eating, the olive goes through a preparation 
peculiarly its own, to get rid of its bitterness and 
unpleasant flavor. The fruit is gathered green, but 
full grown, varying in size from a filbert to a 
pigeon's egg, and is then put into strong lye, and 
after a while in water, which is changed often for 
several days. They are then bottled and a liquor 
poured over them, one-half water and one-half 
saturated brine, with a number of aromatics added, 
this brine being first boiled. We find ripe olives, 
with the stones removed usually, treated in the 
same way. They are by far the best for eating I 
think, and add zest to the post-prandial wine and 
nuts. The olive farcie is a toothsome but rich 

morsel. They are the piece de resistance of olives, 

231 



EATING TO LIVE 

and are made by extracting the stone and stuf- 
fing with anchovy, etc. 

Lemons (the fruit of the Citrus Limonum) . — Its 
juice, its rind, and its oil are all equally useful. 
It came originally from India with the orange. 
Lemon- juice contains 2 per cent, of citric acid, 
with mucilage and a bitter extractive. When you 
buy the oil, be sure it is fresh. It soon deteriorates, 
if pure. A certain percentage of alcohol best pre- 
serves it. If too old, it smells like turpentine, as 
do all of the essential oils. The use of the juice has 
been before spoken of. 

Mulberry. — There are the red, the white, and 
the black. The fruit is sweet and fairly palatable. 
The berry is elongated and granular. The white 
mulberry, the Morus Alba Multicaulis, is the fa- 
vorite tree for the silk-worm to feed upon. Many 
of our grandfathers remember it to their sorrow, 
when the Morus Multicaulis craze raged years 
ago. D owning' s Ever-Bearing is the best mulberry 
to plant in the United States. 

The Cantaloupe. — The best and most delicate 
fruit of the melon tribe, and so named from the 
Villa Canteluppi, near Rome, where the fruit 
abounds. It comes from the Cucurbitacece, or 
gourd family, and is botanically the Cucumis Melo. 
It grows almost anywhere in America. The skin 
is roughened with a cork-like net-work. The 

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EATING TO LIVE 

rougher the skin, as a rule, the better the melon. 
Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Colorado 
are noted for their fine cantaloupes. The Jenny 
Lind, a mean-looking, flattened, rough-rind, 
greenish little melon, with a snout, is undoubtedly 
the highest flavored of its class. Gloucester and 
Salem Counties, New Jersey, are noted for these 
melons. Rocky Fords from Colorado are very 
fine when genuine. 

Watermelons. — The delight of our fellow-citi- 
zens of African descent and the pride of the small 
boy. Botanically, the Citrullus Vulgaris. These 
melons contain much sugar, and have diuretic 
qualities, especially the seeds. 

The chemical composition of the cantaloupe is: 
Water, 89.5; proteids, .6; carbohydrates, 9.3; ash, 
.6. Fuel value per pound, 185. The watermelon 
is not quite so strong. The citron melon for pre- 
serving is a true watermelon. 

Partridge Berry. — This is often called the tea- 
berry, the partridge berry, etc., and the flavor is 
familiar to every child in its candy stick. Botani- 
cally, it is Gaultheria procumbens, and I believe 
is the same as the Mitchella repens of Gray, which 
is also called checkerberry, winter clover, and win- 
tergreen. The partridge berry is a beautiful little 
red berry of a sprightly pungent, aromatic taste, 
in market throughout the winter. The flowers are 

233 



EATING TO LIVE 

very fragrant. The fruit is grateful often to in- 
valids, and is useful in lithsemic cases. The berry- 
is the chief source of the oil of wintergreen, and 
from this we get true salicylic acid, which is prob- 
ably much better in every way than the synthetic 
product so universally used, and which is made 
from carbolic acid, caustic soda, and carbonic acid. 

Pigeonberry, or Pokeberry. — These are from 
the common poke, Phytolacca decandra. This 
poke is eaten and is mentioned here to warn per- 
sons to be careful and not use it when too old and 
hard. It is then emetic and unfit for food. The 
poke called American poke is the Indian poke, and 
from it we get the well-known medicine Ve- 
ratrum Viride, a dangerous depressant. This is 
American hellebore. White hellebore is the Euro- 
pean hellebore, Veratrum Album. 

Haw. — The hawberry is rather common and 
comes from the Viburnum Prunifolium. 

Wineberry is a new berry somewhat on the order 
of the raspberry. 

Loganberry. — Its fruit is often over an inch long 
and dark red in color, with a flavor combining 
both the blackberry and raspberry. 

Gooseberries (Ribes grossularia). — They are 
toothsome to eat out of hand and make a delightful 
jam. The gooseberry comes to great perfection in 
England. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Currants. — Three kinds, the red, the black, and 
the white, Ribes Rubrum, Ribes Nigrum, and Ribes 
Album. The red is generally used for jelly and 
the black to add astringency to medicines, etc. 

Currant jelly is very useful when eaten with 
roast mutton, duck, etc. The fats of these are 
neutral and the acidity of the jelly causes them to 
better emulsify with the bile and pancreatic juice. 

Cranberry. — There are many varieties from the 
Vaccinium macrocarpon, and they grow in bogs. 
When shipped over the seas they must be packed in 
water. They have acid flavor and in digestion 
serve about the same uses as currants. 

Cherry. — This fruit especially delights the small 
boy, and gives him many a bad turn, not so much 
because the fruit is innately bad as that the small 
boy is innately reckless in his eating of it. The fuel 
value per pound is 265. The bad reputation of 
the cherry as an article of food is doubtless caused 
by the habit of eating it out of condition as to ripe- 
ness and as to its fermenting or rotting state, and 
because it is a most hospitable host to pathogenic 
and other germs. Before they are eaten they should 
be thoroughly washed and cleansed. Botanically 
the cherry is Prunus Cerasus, or Prunus Vulgaris, 
and is of Asiatic origin. The wild cherry is Prunus 
Virginiana, or Cerasus Virginiana. At the present 
time California sends us the best eating cherries. 

23s 



EATING TO LIVE 

For some reason, probably error in propagation, 
the trees of the best eating cherries do not thrive in 
the East. The sour cherries grow reasonably well. 

Quince. — Used only for preserves and jellies, 
and these are among the best. The seeds also make 
a fine mucilage. In preparing the quince always 
parboil it before adding the sugar. This sets the 
albumin, a matter of importance. 

Blackberry. — Wild blackberry, Rubus Villosus. 
Its type, but not its flavor, is improved by cultiva- 
tion. It makes fine jams, wine, and preserves, and 
is very pleasant eaten raw, and has a slightly 
astringent effect on digestion. 

Dewberry. — About the same as the blackberry in 
eating, except probably sweeter and of better flavor. 
Botanically, Rubus trivialis or Rubus Canadensis. 

Raspberry. — This comes under the same genus, 
Rubus, and is Rubus Idceus. There are the red 
and the black and the yellow. Their flavor is 
among the most delicate and delicious of all berries. 
The yellow berries are sports. The Golden Queen 
is a sport of the Cuthbert, a red berry. The 
products of the raspberry are jams, preserves, 
syrups, vinegar, and wine. 

Strawberries. — For three months, commencing 
in March, our great eating berry. They hold, 
water, 90.9; proteids, .1; fat, .7; carbohydrates, 
6.8; ash, .6. Fuel value per pound, 175. The 

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EATING TO LIVE 

various species belong to the genus Fragaria, and 
are of the rose family. The fruit as we eat it is 
not really the true fruit of the vine. The pistils 
are placed upon a convex receptacle, and this, when 
the ovaries are ripe, is much enlarged, and this is 
the fruit as we eat it or call it. The true fruit is 
the little ripened ovaries which look like seeds 
scattered all over what we eat as the fruit. Under 
cultivation the stamens of some varieties abort, 
and the blossom is thus not self- fertile ; that plant 
is dioecious, and in raising the berries, practically, 
it is necessary with these dioecious plants to set a 
fertile or some monoecious kind about every third 
or fourth row. This makes the plant an interesting 
study, as the Indian corn plant is an interesting 
study. Here the silk is the pistils, and these must 
be impregnated by the pollen of the anthers at the 
top of the stalk, or no grains of corn will be pro- 
duced. Here the stamens and pistils are in dif- 
ferent flowers, or different parts of the same plant. 
The consumption of strawberries as food is 
enormous, and thousands and thousands of car- 
loads are carried annually to the different markets. 
It is difficult to keep up with the changing varieties. 
The wild berries have the highest flavor and per- 
fume. Cultivation to great size probably deterior- 
ates flavor and perfume, but the fine-looking, large 
berries are the ones in demand. 

237 



EATING TO LIVE 

Let me say in regard to eating all these berries 
with seeds: The old and the young should avoid 
overindulgence, or the seeds will pack the bowels 
and cause more or less trouble. In many they 
cause, especially the strawberry, urticaria, which 
comes from some idiosyncrasy of the individual, or 
from something they may accidentally meet in the 
bowel, which causes a ptomaine poisoning on a 
limited scale, evincing itself by the indigestion and 
the rash accompanying it. 

How and Why Fruits Decay. 
Dr. G. C. Caldwell, of Cornell, has looked this 
matter up quite thoroughly. The changes which 
take place in ripening are somewhat similar to the 
changes in rotting. In ripening, the abundant 
starch of the green fruit is changed to cane sugar ; 
later a great part of the cane sugar becomes glu- 
cose. These changes may go on while the fruit is 
still on the tree, or in the storage-room after it has 
been picked. This change of cane sugar to glucose 
does not help the fruit in flavor, for glucose is less 
sweet than cane sugar. The riper fruit gets, short 
of decay, the sweeter it gets, not because the cane 
sugar changes to glucose, but because so much of 
the starch, which is tasteless, becomes sugar and 
some of the acids of the fruit are decomposed. As 
fruit goes on to rot, what cane sugar there is goes 

238 



EATING TO LIVE 

to glucose, and then this glucose is decomposed. 
The proteids and the tannin also are decomposed, 
and new chemical compounds are produced which 
cause the brown color and the unpleasant taste of 
the decay which has now set in. Different species 
of fungi cause this rotting of the fruit, and the 
three important ones are Penicillium glaucum, 
Botrytis Vulgaris, and Oilium fructigenum. The 
last mentioned one exists even on the fruit-trees, 
and attacks both the ripe and the green fruit, and 
is even found on the blossoms. It goes in at the 
stem of the fruit, into the twig and the leaves, and 
kills both, producing the twig blight and leaf 
blight, so common. Flies and wasps and other in- 
sects carry this fungus from tree to tree. The 
more flies and wasps there are about, the more de- 
cayed fruit there is. These fungi of decay produce 
a poison which kills the cells of the leaves and of 
the twigs and of the fruit. 

Now, as to spraying for these fungi with copper 
and arsenic, even if we spray late, when the fruit is 
grown, there is little trace of the poisons on the 
fruit, and they are safe to eat. I have several years 
since experimented with fungicides sprayed on 
apples in winter storage in Delaware, and at the 
time I thought the results were good. The great 
increase in these fungi over the times of fifty 
years ago, together with the higher temperature of 

239 



EATING TO LIVE 

our cellars where our fruit is often stored, are 
the great reasons why our fruit does not keep 
now like it did in the cellars of our grandfathers. 
General cold storage is coming in to remedy all 
this and to decrease, I trust, the development of 
the fungi of decay. 

Mushrooms — The Edible and the Poisonous Fungi. 
Mushrooms are so universally used for food 
that it is of the greatest importance that all should 
know at least sufficient about them to avoid those 
growing wild, which are poisonous, and to dis- 
tinguish those which are edible. Bulletin No. 15, 
United States Department of Agriculture, by Dr. 
W. G. Farlow, gives the best resume of the subject 
I am acquainted with, and to him I am indebted for 
much assistance in this review of the subject. 
Mushrooms are toadstools, and therefore the names 
do not distinguish them. The best known and edi- 
ble of the toadstools are what we know as mush- 
rooms, so called in the markets. There are many 
other toadstools not known in the markets as 
mushrooms which are edible, and many more of 
them are not poisonous, even if not very palatable. 
How do you tell the edible from the poisonous 
fungi? We do not exactly know scientifically, but 
we know in regard to many of them empirically, 

because some one has eaten this one and lived to 

240 



EATING TO LIVE 

tell the story, and another person has eaten that 
one and been ill or died from the effects. The 
number tried empirically is small in comparison to 
the whole number of species of toadstools. As to 
this great number of unknowns, we might say that 
this one is not poisonous because it resembles that 
one we know to be harmless, and this one is poi- 
sonous because it resembles one we know to be 
poisonous. This reasoning may not always be 
practically safe. 

Mushrooms and toadstools (I use the word 
mushroom to apply to the edible fungi, or, rather, 
the ones we are familiar with in the market or on 
our tables, and the word toadstool to apply to those 
not generally used as food, whether edible or not 
edible) belong to the group of fungi known as 
Hymenomycetes. They grow in the ground or on 
the bark of trees. There is first a ball, which 
gradually enlarges, or pileus. This gradually ex- 
pands, in some species largely, and in others keeps 
more of a ball-shape. The mushroom or toad- 
stool comes from fine threads. These threads are 
the spawn, or the mycelia, the spores of fungi. 
Each thread is called a hypha. 

The word mushroom is almost universally used 

to express an upstart of any kind, whether in real 

life or otherwise. This would seem to indicate that 

we all think of the mushroom as springing up in a 
16 241 



EATING TO LIVE 

night. This is not the case. The button develop- 
ing from the mycelia takes often a long time, even 
weeks, months, or years, before it comes from the 
mycelia, or spawn, in the ground to the top. True, 
the mycelia, or spawn, are the whole plant, and the 
mushrooms are the fruit only, the reproductive 
bodies like the apples of the apple-tree. The spores, 
the mycelia, and the spawn reside in the mushrooms 
or fruit of the fungus. The buttons, in the parlance 
of trade, are these young non-expanded mush- 
rooms, and mushrooms are the expanded buttons. 
In Europe buttons are most used. In this country 
we use mostly the expanded fruit. 

In the toadstool family the under side of the 
umbrella, or the pileus, bears the spores or seeds. 
In some species these are like the spokes of a 
wheel, and radiate to the circumference from the 
top of the stalk. In others they are packed in and 
together like tubes in a steam boiler, in others like 
teeth, while in still others the surface is only set 
in wrinkles. The wheel-spoke or gill group are 
called Agaricini, or the Agarics; the tube group 
are the Polyporei; the teeth group the Hydnei; 
and the wrinkle the Thelephorei. 

There are some toadstools with no stalk at all, 

yet even some of these are edible; but no one but 

an expert should even think of selecting them for 

food. Nearly all of the edible mushrooms belong 

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EATING TO LIVE 

to the Agarics and the Polyporei. No one when 
beginning, and not yet an expert, should gather 
buttons for food, for it is then difficult to distin- 
guish the species. Of course, this does not apply 
to cultivated mushrooms, for the species is known 
and raised only for food. Again, do not eat old, 
decayed mushrooms, as even the edible ones when 
old may develop poisons. 

The common mushroom, Agaricus Campestris, 
is really the only species cultivated and sold in our 
markets during winter. In summer it grows wild, 
is most plentiful in June, July, August, and Sep- 
tember, and is found more frequently in old pasture 
fields than in other places. As a rule it does not 
grow in the woods. The stalk and umbrella are 
white, or cream color, and the gills are pink, going 
on to dark brown or purplish brown as the mush- 
rooms get older. The pink or brown color is due 
to the spores on the gills. The stalk is cylindrical 
and solid, and near the umbrella is a membranous 
ring, and below this there is no membrane or 
scales. 

Remember this : They grow singly or in clusters 
of several. Before the umbrella opens the gills are 
covered by the veil ; when the mushroom expands, 
the veil ruptures and the red gills are exposed. 
What is left of the veil clings around the stalk and 
forms, a little below the umbrella, the ring before 

243 



EATING TO LIVE 

spoken of. Some fragments of the veil also remain 
attached to the margin of the umbrella, giving it a 
slightly fringed appearance. When looking for 
this mushroom see that the gills are pink or dark 
brown, and not white, that the stalk is round and 
solid and has the ring below the umbrella, and 
that it has no bulb at the ground end and no scales 
or bag of a membranous material. It never grows 
on old logs or trees. Differentiate this species and 
gather or buy no other and you will always be safe. 
Leave all the others to experts. 

The two poisonous toadstools most likely to be 
mistaken for the common mushroom are the 
Amanita Phalloides, the Deadly Agaric, and the 
Amanita Muscaria, the Fly Agaric. The former is 
the worst, and the latter is the most common. The 
Fly Agaric is quite common; it grows on road- 
sides, on the borders of fields, not often in pastures, 
and not usually with the common mushroom. It 
grows very often among pine-trees and under ever- 
greens. It grows singly and is often very large. 
Its gills are white, not pink. Its stem is hollow, not 
solid like the common mushroom stem; there is 
always a bulb at the ground and scales on it. The 
color of the umbrella is brilliant yellow with a deep 
red, or orange red. The surface of the umbrella 
is polished, with a number of warty scales, which 
cannot be rubbed off. There is a large mem- 

244 



EATING TO LIVE 

branous collar hanging down from the upper part 
of the stem. This is the mushroom most frequently- 
causing poison ; but surely no one having the least 
experience in gathering mushrooms would mistake 
it for the common edible mushroom. Pick it up, 
and it is light, and the stem has no strength and 
bends like a piece of cooked macaroni. The com- 
mon mushroom has a firm, solid stem. This Fly 
Agaric strongly resembles the Amanita rubescens, 
one of the most delicious of mushrooms, with a 
flesh of red tinge. None but an expert should 
gather this; they may pick the poisonous Fly 
Agaric for it. 

There is another delicious mushroom not com- 
mon in the North, but often found in the South, — 
the Amanita Ccesarea, or royal agaric. Here the 
gills, ring, and stalk are yellow, not white, no scales 
on the stalk, but a bag-like membrane through 
which the stalk runs. The Deadly Agaric has the 
umbrella without warts, the gills white, the stalk 
hollow, with a large ring and a bulb at the ground 
end, with a bag-like upper margin, and a hollow 
stalk long and slender. No one can mistake this 
hollow stalk in any mushroom for the solid stalk 
of the edible common mushroom after once he 
has felt and compared them. There are no 
scales or warts on the common mushroom; then 
the color of the gills, the general appearance, its 

245 



EATING TO LIVE 

standing with head erect, while the hollow-stem 
ones have a mean, leaning, cast-down look, show- 
ing them the villains they are. 

The common mushroom often has the umbrella 
four inches broad; the stalk is stout, round, and 
smooth below the ring, and not usually as long as 
the umbrella is broad. The common mushroom 
has an odor of its own, a woody odor, a raw odor, 
and so has the Deadly Agaric. The Fly Agaric has 
little or no odor. All these three — the Fly Agaric, 
the Deadly Agaric, and the common mushroom — 
have a taste not unpleasant in the raw state, and 
unfortunately, when cooked each has a good flavor 
and not distinctive. 

The Horse mushroom, Agaricus Arvensis, looks 
like the common mushroom, the Agaricus Cam- 
pestris, but is larger, and is often taken for and 
eaten for common mushrooms. It is edible and 
safe. It grows along hedges and in cultivated 
fields. The umbrella is shining white and the stem 
is a little hollow. The gills are at first white, a very 
suspicious quality, but they brown up as it gets 
older. The ring is double, not single, as in the 
common mushroom. 

There is another common mushroom, an edible 

one, the Hypholoma Appendiculatum. It grows 

in clusters around stumps in grass-fields. The color 

is transparent white, with a purple or brownish 

246 



EATING TO LIVE 

tinge when wet. The umbrella is thin and bell- 
shaped, and the edges roll up somewhat. The gills 
are a purple brown ; it has no ring, and the stalk is 
hollow. 

The Horsetail Fungus, the maned agaric, Co- 
prinus Comatus, is edible, and grows along the 
roadside in grass in dense clusters. The umbrella 
in this species remains closed, not open, and when 
commencing to decay it rolls outward, and the 
fungus liquefies in a dark fluid. This is the way it 
decays. The umbrella is white, with fringy scales. 
The gills are broad, close to the stalk, and, like the 
common mushroom, turn from pink to dark. The 
stalk is long and hollow, and has a ring which can 
be moved up and down. A few appear in early 
summer, but it is most plentiful in the fall. 

Two other specimens of Coprinus are found, 
and mostly around walls and houses, — Coprinus 
Atramentarins. The stalk is short and stout, and 
it is edible. The color is ashy and dark, and it has 
no scales, but is furrowed. Coprinus Micaceous is 
a small one and is edible, with the umbrella light 
brown or darker. These species are quite com- 
mon and grow around houses, but I do not think 
are so palatable as to entail the certain risk the 
amateur runs in eating them. I think ninety-nine- 
one-hundredths of the wild mushrooms we eat are 

the Agaricus Campestris, the common mushroom, 

247 



EATING TO LIVE 

and any one can tell them after a little practice. 
Before eating any other kind I want them passed 
upon by an expert who has very frequent practice. 
Our most poisonous species of toadstools have a 
wrapper, as it were, around the base of the stalk, 
called a volva; if in addition they have white gills 
and spores and a bulbous base, they should not be 
eaten. 

The Parasol Fungus, Lepiota Procera, is large 
and tall, and grows in grass; it is not poisonous, 
but it is tough and not desirable. It is white or 
brown. The umbrella is scaly, and the ring is free 
on the stalk. 

The Chanterelle, the Cantharellus Cibarius, 
grows in the woods in summer. It is yellow and 
has a crumpled margin. The upper surface is de- 
pressed and the gills run down over the stalk. It 
is not good enough to risk eating it, if gathered 
by the average hunter. 

The Fairy Fungus, Marasmius Oreades, grows 

in the grassy lawns in rings, which are called fairy 

rings. It is tough and not good, though edible. 

The stalk is tubular, and the umbrella, or pileus, is 

thin. It is of a drab color; the spores are white. 

To determine the color of the spores of a mushroom 

press it on a piece of white paper and allow it 

to remain a while, and the color of the spore will 

be shown. 

248 



EATING TO LIVE 

Fungi with Milky Juice. — These are of the 
genus Lactarius. The milk is usually white, but 
may be red or blue. In many species it is very 
acrid. They are safe, but not good. There is one 
specimen said to be good — the Lactarius deliciosus. 
It is a mountain fungus. The milk is red and 
afterwards turns green. The fungus is red. 

The Russullce are mostly small and grow in 
swamps and woods. The gills are yellowish. 
Some are edible and some are poisonous. 

The Oyster Fungus, Pleurotus Ostreatus, has 
no central stalk, but grows to trees attached by a 
short stalk at the side. They grow in clusters at- 
tached to a tree, like oysters attached to rocks. 
They are yellowish in color, and the clusters are 
often a foot or more wide. The gills are long. 
It is edible, but not very palatable, and not worth 
any risk. 

The Polyporei, or tube-bearing fungi, as dis- 
tinguished from the fungi with gills, have central 
stalks, and some only lateral, like the oyster fungi. 
Most of the species are not palatable if edible. 
The edible species belong to the genus Boletus. 
They are soft and fleshy, and grow on the ground 
in woods and fields. Some are edible and some are 
poisonous. They are not worth risking as an article 
of diet. Boletus Subluteus is edible, but not very 
palatable, and not worth eating. 

249 



EATING TO LIVE 

The Steinpilz of the Germans is very large. 
The stalk is stout. The tubes are two inches long ; 
they are white, and then become yellow. It is 
edible, but not worth eating. This is the true Cepe. 
In the boleti, if the mouths of the tubes are red, 
do not eat them. The boleti, as a rule, are rather 
dangerous. 

The Beefsteak Fungus, Fistulina Hepatica, 
grows on stumps, particularly on oak and chestnut 
stumps. When young the upper side is of a peach 
color, growing to a deep red with age. The 
tubes are flesh color and are on the under side. 
The surface looks like a cooked tongue or like a 
beefsteak. It is safe to eat. 

Teeth-bearing fungi, Hydnei, hedgehog fungi, 
are some of them edible, but not palatable. Their 
color is white to brown and red and yellow. The 
two most common are Hydnum Imbricatum and 
Hydnuw Repandum. They are found in swamps. 

The coral-shaped fungi of the family, Thele- 
phorei, are not poisonous. I do not think them 
worth eating, but some experts say many of them 
are good. 

Morels and Truffles. — The morels are among 
the best of the fungi to eat. Botanically they are 
not close to the toadstools. They may be called 
the tripe-like fungus, and the honeycomb runs 
into the covering. Hunt for them in the spring 

250 



EATING TO LIVE 

and early summer in the woodland that has been 
burned over. The stalk is white and granular. 
Truffles, the great delicacy of the fungi of Europe, 
are not found in the United States, at least not 
the prize ones. They are like small potatoes, and 
are hunted by trained dogs and pigs, and dug out of 
the ground. If found with us it will probably be on 
calcareous soil among hills covered with oak-trees. 

Puff Balls. — Gasteromycetes, or puff balls, as a 
rule, have no stalk ; they lie on the ground. The 
powder comes with age and is chiefly composed 
of mycelia or spores. The largest is the Lycoper- 
don Giganteum, and grows to a circumference of 
forty inches. The flesh is white or yellowish and 
firm, and edible before it becomes powder. An- 
other puff ball, edible, as most of them are before 
the powder forms, is Lycoperdon Cyathiforme. 
There is one species of puff balls which is poison- 
ous, and it grows around houses, the Scleroderma 
Vulgare. The exterior is yellow and warty, and 
the inside is purple or black, with white. None of 
these puff balls are sufficiently attractive as food, 
unless one is starving, to cause one to run a risk of 
eating Scleroderma Vulgare for Lycoperdon Cy- 
athiforme. Dr. Farlow well says, " When you are 
in doubt, never eat a fungus." 

The tests to distinguish poisonous from non- 
poisonous mushrooms or toadstools in common 

251 



EATING TO LIVE 

vogue, as of cooking a silver spoon with them, 
the blackening of the spoon being a sign of poison, 
are utterly unreliable. Cooking in milk or vinegar 
may do more harm than good if the fungi are 
poisonous. There are two classes of poisonous 
fungi, the irritant and the narcotic. The nar- 
cotic are the most dangerous. The irritant may 
work their own cure by causing vomiting soon 
after they have been eaten. The narcotic may 
cause serious symptoms after ten or twelve hours 
through the nerve centres. The irritant fungi, as 
a rule, have a pungent, disagreeable taste, the 
narcotic a rather pleasant taste. 

Muscarin is the chief poisonous active principle 
of the Amanita Muscaria. Muscarin is a colorless 
alkaloid, which forms salts with acids. Muscarin 
is not poisonous to flies, but this mushroom con- 
tains another poison which is volatile and kills 
flies. Muscarin can be made synthetically by treat- 
ing Cholin with nitric acid. Poisoning by the fly 
mushroom comes on in from a half -hour to two 
hours, up to ten hours. First come colic, vomiting, 
diarrhoea, then contracted pupils and salivation; 
then the patient becomes drunk, as from alcohol, 
the vision is disturbed, and convulsions may super- 
vene; stupor comes on with apoplectic symptoms, 
and either symptoms of collapse and death follow 
or the patient gradually recovers from his stupor 

252 



EATING TO LIVE 

and recovery takes place. The fatal result is often 
postponed until the second or third day. As to 
treatment, evacuate the stomach by emetics or apo- 
morphine hypodermically ; if free vomiting does 
not take place, use the stomach-pump and give 
croton-oil to evacuate the bowels. Atropia is the 
antidote to muscarin ; give it hypodermically, com- 
bat tendency to heart failure with digitalis, strych- 
nine, etc. Atropia is only a physiological antidote ; 
there is no known chemical antidote to muscarin. 

The poison in the Amanita Phalloides, the 
death-cup, is phallin. Phallin is a toxalbumin, and 
boiling fortunately makes it less dangerous. 
Phallin kills, not by causing collapse, but by de- 
stroying the red blood-corpuscles, setting free the 
haemoglobin. Poisoning sets in after from twelve 
to fifteen hours. The patient acts like one in the 
collapse of cholera, but death comes not from 
heart paralysis, as in poisoning from the Fly Ama- 
nita, but from the blood breaking down, causing 
exhaustion. Evacuate the stomach and treat on 
general principles. Be sure and use injections of 
normal salt solution into the veins or tissues. 
There is no known antidote to phallin. It is sup- 
posed to arrest the heart's action in diastole. The 
proper treatment is to evacuate the stomach by the 
usual methods, even washing it out with large 
quantities of aseptic warm water. Digitalis is 

253 



EATING TO LIVE 

probably antagonistic to muscarim Give twenty 
drops of tincture of digitalis hypodermically, and 
then digitalis, whiskey, ammonia, and such reme- 
dies as the case may require. In digitalis poisoning 
the heart is usually arrested in systole. 

Mushrooms are so frequently eaten that it does 
not seem out of place here to speak at the length I 
have concerning them. The emergency often 
comes quickly and unexpectedly, and it is well to 
have everything pertaining to treatment at the wit's 
end not only of the physician, but of the layman. 

Farlow's rules, for beginners especially, in 
gathering mushrooms are as follows: 

1. Avoid fungi in the button state, and in the de- 
cayed state, even if the decay is only slight. 

2. Avoid all fungi which have stalks with a 
swollen base surrounded by a sac-like or scaly en- 
velope, especially if the gills are white. 

3. Avoid fungi having a milky juice, unless the 
milk is reddish. 

4. Avoid fungi in which the umbrella, or pileus, 
is thin in proportion to the gills, and in which the 
gills are nearly all of equal length, especially if the 
umbrella is bright colored. 

5. Avoid all tube-bearing fungi in which the 
flesh changes color when cut or broken or where 
the mouths of the tubes are reddish, and in the case 
of other tube-bearing fungi experiment with caution. 

254 



EATING TO LIVE 

6. Fungi which have a sort of spider-web or 
flocculent ring around the upper part of the stalk 
should in general be avoided. 

Rules i, 2, and 5 may for the beginner be re- 
garded as absolute, with the exception to Rule 2 
of Amanita Ccesarea, the gills of which are yellow. 
Rules 3, 4, and 6 have more numerous exceptions, 
but these rules should be followed in all cases unless 
the collector is content to experiment first with very 
small quantities, and learn the practical results. 

As to mushrooms, they have been supposed to be 
highly nitrogenous, and hence strong food. I have 
seen this recently denied and they were put down as 
wishy-washy diet. Looking at the analysis, proba- 
bly their flavor, which is delicious to those who have 
learned to eat them, is their great recommendation. 

Analysis. — Water, 88.1; proteids, 3.5; fat, .4; 
grape sugar mannite, 1.05; carbohydrates, 6.8; 
ash, 1.2. Fuel value per pound, 1.2. Fresh Truf- 
fles. — Water, 72.8; non-nitrogenous substances, 
8.91; fat, .62; other non-nitrogenous substances, 
7.54; woody fibre, 7.92; ash, 2.21. Fresh Com- 
mon Morel. — Water, 90; non-nitrogenous matter, 
3.48; fat, .24; grape sugar mannite, .72; other 
non-nitrogenous substances, 3.95 ; woody fibre, 
.67; ash, .94. 

This is not a strong showing, and does not make 
them the highly nitrogenous diet we have been 

255 



EATING TO LIVE 

taught that they are. Remember, though, in cook- 
ing most of the bulk goes off in water, and what 
remains is quite concentrated. 

There is something unexplained attached to 
mushrooms. In Italy the common mushroom, 
Agaricus Campestris, is not only rejected as an edi- 
ble variety, but it is feared as poisonous. The 
climate, soil, and environment must make a dif- 
ference surely. The mushroom for spontaneous 
reproduction probably depends on animals, espe- 
cially the horse and the horned cattle. The mycelia 
are taken in with the grass they eat, then passed 
through during digestion, and come forth in the 
manure of the animal. Animal droppings are the 
proper material in which to sprinkle the mycelia 
when artificial cultivation is to be carried on. They 
grow in caves, in casks, or in benches placed in 
flower or vegetable forcing-houses, or in cellars. 
Some grow them in the cellars of dwelling houses, 
where the heating apparatus of the house is utilized 
to give proper heat for developing the mushrooms 
from the spores. This is a very dangerous custom, 
as many pathogenic germs may be cultivated at the 
same time, and that much-dreaded germ of tetanus 
or lockjaw, the bacillus tetani, is especially at home 
in stable droppings. 

Mushroom spawn or spores come in so-called 
bricks, from their shape and resemblance to com- 

256 



EATING TO LIVE 

mon bricks, and can be purchased from the general 
seed dealers. This is really the proper way to get 
mushrooms. Raise or buy the cultivated ones. 
You always then get the common mushroom, a per- 
fectly safe one, and the best of all, taking all things 
into consideration, and you do not depend on the 
Toms, Dicks, and Harrys who gather the wild ones 
and hawk them from door to door, and who know 
nothing whatever about discriminate selection. 

Nuts. 

Nuts have high food value and we have before 
spoken of the food value of some of them, — viz., 
almonds, Brazil nuts, cocoanuts, hickory-nuts, 
shellbarks, pecans, black walnuts, English walnuts, 
or Madeira nuts, and chestnuts. In the United 
States they are not a staple article of diet, as in 
some other parts of the world. In all diets and 
among all people they have their uses. The Maron 
glace is a luscious confection, and is made from 
the meal of the chestnut properly flavored. The 
chestnut, of all nuts, is probably more eaten than 
any other, and is palatable, raw or cooked in 
various ways. 

In this country vast quantities of peanuts, Ara- 
chis Hypogcea, the Pistache de Terre of the French, 
are raised. They are high in proteids, carbohy- 
drates, and fat. It is the poor man's nut for food 
17 257 



EATING TO LIVE 

beyond all others. Much oil is made from them, 
a great portion of which is used as salad oil. Salad 
oil is also largely made from cotton-seed. Both 
of these are fair oils for dressings. The unfair 
part of the problem is that they are sold as olive 
oil very frequently. 

Filberts, or hazel-nuts, are low in carbohydrates 
and high in fat. There are many more palatable 
nuts. 

Pecans are among our best and most plentiful 
nuts. They analyze much the same as hickory-nuts. 

Shellbark, or Shagbark, Hicoria Laciniosa, or 
Carya Sulcata. — This nut is only fairly high in pro- 
teids, is oily, and not high in carbohydrates. 

Queensland Nut, Macadamia Ternifolia, has a 
shell like a walnut. It is of better flavor than the 
filbert. 

Betel Nut. — Areca Catechu. — This is only one of 
the areca nuts. The fruit is the size of a hen's egg, 
and the seed or nut is the size of a nutmeg. The 
people of India chew it as Americans chew tobacco, 
calling it betel. This is made by mixing it with the 
leaves of the piper betel and lime. Reduced to 
charcoal, the nut makes a tooth-powder. 

Pistachio Nut, Pistach. — The tree is dioecious. 
The nuts are born on the female tree in clusters. It 
is used in confectionery to flavor it and color it 
green. The French use it to flavor sausages, etc. 

258 



EATING TO LIVE 

Kola Nut — Sterculia Acuminata, Cola Acumi- 
nata. — This nut is a native of Africa. The tree, 
like the orange, has the flowers and fruit on it at the 
same time. The ripe nut is a brownish-yellow cap- 
sule, enclosing both red and white seeds, varying in 
number from five to twenty. According to Dr. 
Neish, the nut is rich in caffeine and theobromine. 
Kola nuts contain more caffeine than coffee, and 
in them it is free and uncombined and easy to 
obtain pure. It lessens mental and bodily fatigue, 
and is safer than beer as a beverage. The natives 
of Africa esteem it highly as a help in fatigue. It 
may be harmless, but surely all such remedies need 
care and watching in using them, and kola and 
coca are among those needing most to be watched. 

Guarana, the fruit and leaves of the Paullinia 
Sorbilis. These also furnish caffeine, and are 
astringent. Coffee is a better bracer. 

Butternut, Juglans Cinerea. — This is the white 
walnut and full of fat. 

Japan Walnut. — Juglans Sieboldiana, Juglans 
Cordiformis, Juglans Mandschurica, are getting 
to be common in this country and much like our 
butternut. 

Souari Nut. — This is a new nut, just introduced 
here from Venezuela. It has a very hard shell. It 
is clam shaped and of a snuff color. It has a 
creamy taste, but is inferior to the Brazil nut in 

259 



EATING TO LIVE 

flavor. It has something of a raw mushroom odor 
and flavor. It may be eaten plain, with pepper and 
salt, with cheese, and may be roasted or boiled as 
may the Brazil nut. 

All nuts are more thoroughly treated of, both as 
to their nature and their uses as articles of diet, in 
my book, " Forty Years in the Medical Profes- 
sion," published by J. B. Lippincott Company, in 

1900. 

Alcohol. 

Absolute alcohol is only for chemical purposes, 
as a rule. The Pharmacopoeia recognizes alcohol 
containing 94 per cent, by volume of absolute alco- 
hol, and having the specific gravity of 0.820. De- 
odorized alcohol contains 95.1 per cent, alcohol by 
volume, with a specific gravity of 0.816. Dilute 
alcohol, U. S. P., contains 48.6 per cent, by volume 
of absolute alcohol with a specific gravity of 0.936. 

Alcohol comes from sugar by fermentation, as is 
well known, or from the destructive distillation of 
organic bodies. Chemically it is an ethylhydrate, 
C 2 H 5 OH. 

Whiskey is distilled from fermented grains, and 
brandy is distilled from fermented grape juices, and 
each undiluted should hold from 48 to 56 per cent, 
of absolute alcohol. As sold in the markets, whis- 
key and brandy carry from 35 to 45 per cent, of 
alcohol. Port wine carries from 18 to 20 per cent. 

260 



EATING TO LIVE 

of alcohol ; Madeira about the same ; sherry about 
1 6 per cent.; champagne, 10 to n per cent; Bur- 
gundy, 10 per cent. ; claret, 6 to 8 per cent. ; Rhine 
wines the same ; porter, 5 to 6 per cent., and beers 
and ales, from 3 to 6 per cent. 

According to Horatio Wood, alcohol increases 
the frequency of the pulse and increases blood- 
pressure. It is a cardiac stimulant, and in over- 
doses is a heart depressant. There is one thing 
well to remember; there is an apparent contradic- 
tion in the effect of alcohol on bodily temperature. 
When a man takes just sufficient to slightly in- 
crease his heart's action, there is a very slight rise 
in temperature. After a full dose there is a slight 
fall in temperature, and when a man is fully intoxi- 
cated, his temperature may fall as much as 3 Fah. 
The explanation here is simple. The full dose 
drives the blood to the surface, where it is cooled, 
and the temperature of the whole body falls. It 
then follows, actually, that a man may take a drink 
to warm him up and may take several drinks to 
cool him off, and science supports him in both. 

A drink of spirits makes the breathing freer and 
fuller. An overdose weakens respiration, and this 
often is seen in the case of drunken men, exclaim- 
ing they cannot get their breath. There is here a 
tendency to centric respiratory paralysis from alco- 
hol poisoning. 

261 



EATING TO LIVE 

I have always been taught to believe from my 
own experience that alcohol was not directly a food, 
but that a man could live longer with it than with- 
out it, because he did not die so rapidly ; that is to 
say, with a certain amount of alcohol daily, destruc- 
tive change of his tissues did not go on so rapidly 
as when that certain amount of alcohol was with- 
held; but the recent experiments of Atwater and 
Benedict, particularly, appear to give to alcohol 
direct food value. After careful and prolonged 
actual experiments with individuals, most carefully 
and scientifically conducted, Atwater and Benedict 
have reached the following conclusions, which I 
give in their own words : 

In our experiments the whole amount per day 
was only about one gram per kilogram body 
weight; the individual doses were only about one- 
sixth of a gram per kilogram, and half of them 
were taken with meals. This fact doubtless ac- 
counts for a not inconsiderable share of the differ- 
ence between the results of our experiments and 
those found by a number of other investigators. 
While the quantities of alcohol were small, the 
energy sufficed to make about one-fifth of the total 
energy of the diet in men at " rest," and one- 
seventh of the total energy of the diet in the men at 
" work," experiments. It is to be especially noted 

that these experiments were not made to test the 

262 



EATING TO LIVE 

effects of alcohol upon muscular or nervous ac- 
tivity or power, nor do they lead to any conclusions 
regarding the effects of alcohol, when taken habitu- 
ally or in large quantities. 

The Observed Results. — The results as shown by 
the statistics of the experiments may be briefly 
stated as follows : 

i. The quantities of alcohol eliminated by the 
lungs, skin, and kidneys varied from 0.7 to 2. J 
grams, and averaged 1.3 grams per day. This cor- 
responds to an average of 1.9 per cent, of the 
whole alcohol ingested. Accordingly over 98 per 
cent, of the ingested alcohol was oxidized in the 
body. There is, however, reason to believe that 99 
per cent, would more nearly represent the propor- 
tion actually oxidized. 

2. The experiments give data for comparing the 
availability and fuel value of alcohol with those of 
the nutrients of ordinary food. The word " avail- 
ability" as here applied to the ordinary nutrients, 
expresses the proportion which is digested and 
made available for the building and repair of tissue 
and the yielding of energy. This proportion is the 
difference between the total amount and that ex- 
creted by the intestines. In like manner the avail- 
able alcohol would be the difference between the 
total amount ingested and the amount excreted by 
the lungs, skin, and kidneys, practically none being 

263 



EATING TO LIVE 



excreted by the intestines. The available energy 
of the ordinary nutrients is the total energy (heat 
of oxidation) less that of the material unoxidized. 
For fats, carbohydrates, and alcohol, it is the heat 
of oxidation of the total available material. For 
the protein it is the same, less the heat of oxida- 
tion of the unoxidized residue excreted by the 
kidneys. The available energy is taken as the 
measure of the fuel value. 

The following table compares the coefficients of 
availability and the fuel value of the proteids, fats, 
and carbohydrates of ordinary diet, as found by a 
considerable number of experiments, with those 
of the alcohol as shown by the experiments here 
reported. 

Comparison of availability {digestibility) and fuel values of 
nutrients of food in ordinary diet with those of alcohol. 





c 
o 

O M 

° u 

«*« o 
o a 

*j 

ti 

V 

s 


Coefficients of 
availability 


Fuel values. 




of ma- 
terial. 


of en- 
ergy. 


Referred to 
available 
material. 


Referred to total 
material. 




Per gm. 


Per lb. 


Per gm. 


Per lb. 


Proteids 

Fats 

Carbohy- 
drates 

Alcohol 


Cal- 
ories. 

5-65 

9.40 

4.10 
7.7 


Per 

cent. 

92 

95 

97 
98 


Per 

cent. 
70 

95 

97 
98 


Cal- 
ories. 
4.4 
9.4 

4.1 

7-i 


Cal- 
ories. 
2,000 
4,260 

I,86o 
3,2IO 


Cal- 
ories. 
4.0 
8.9 

4.0 
6.9 


Cal- 
ories. 
1,820 
4,©40 

1,820 
3>i4o 



264 



EATING TO LIVE 

The isodynamic values of alcohol, carbohydrates, 
and fats are thus in the ratios 6.9 : 4 : 9, and one 
gram of alcohol would be isodynamic with 1.73 
grams carbohydrate, or 0.78 gram of fats of ordi- 
nary food materials. 

3. The proportions of food and of the several 
kinds of nutrients digested and made available for 
use in the body were practically the same in the 
experiments with and those without alcohol in the 
diet. The only difference worthy of mention was 
in the proportions of protein made available. 
These were slightly larger with the alcohol. In 
all the experiments, both those with and those with- 
out alcohol, the results agree very closely with 
those commonly found in the digestion of food in 
ordinary mixed diet of healthy men, but the dif- 
ference was too small to be of practical importance. 

4. The potential energy of the alcohol was trans- 
formed into kinetic energy in the body as com- 
pletely as that of the ordinary nutrients. The in- 
come and outgo of energy were equal in the ex- 
periments without alcohol; the same was true in 
the experiments with alcohol. In all the experi- 
ments the body obeyed the law of conservation of 
energy. 

5. With the exception of the energy of the 
external muscular work in the " work" experi- 
ments, all of the energy of the food, including that 

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EATING TO LIVE 

of the alcohol, left in the body as heat, must there- 
fore have been transformed into heat within the 
body. Part of this total energy must have been 
used for the internal mechanical (muscular) work; 
the energy thus used was therefore transformed 
into heat before leaving the body. 

6. The radiation of heat from the body was very 
slightly greater with the alcohol diet than with the 
ordinary diet, but the difference was extremely 
small, — enough to make only about i per cent, of 
the whole energy metabolized and not over 6 per 
cent, of the energy of the alcohol. 

7. The efficiency of alcohol in the protection of 
body fat from consumption was very evident. The 
losses of fat were no larger and the gains no smaller 
with the alcohol diet than with the corresponding 
diet with no alcohol. In this respect there was no 
indication of any considerable difference between 
the alcohol and the nearly isodynamic amounts of 
fats and carbohydrates which it replaced. This was 
the case in all the experiments. 

8. The efficiency of the alcohol in protecting body 
protein was evident, but it was not fully equal in 
this respect to the isodynamic amounts of the ordi- 
nary nutrients. The results, however, were not the 
same with the different subjects. With a man who 
had been accustomed to use alcoholic beverages, 

the difference between the alcohol diet and the ordi- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

nary diet in their apparent effects upon the nitrogen 
metabolism were small. With a man not accus- 
tomed to use alcohol, its use in the place of other 
nutrients resulted at first in an increased excretion 
of nitrogen in the urine and inferentially a greater 
catabolism of protein, but after five or six days 
the output of nitrogen fell to what seemed to be 
the amount with ordinary diet, and when the 
alcohol was removed and diet thus reduced there 
was an increase of the output. These results might 
imply that the alcohol at first failed to protect pro- 
tein, but was afterwards able to do so. There was, 
however, but one series of experiments with this 
subject. On the whole, these experiments accord 
with the belief that with some persons, especially 
those who are not accustomed to the use of alcohol, 
it may fail to protect protein; but this action is 
temporary and the more permanent influence is to 
protect protein. 

9. That a part of the potential energy of the 
alcohol was transformed into the kinetic energy of 
muscular work these experiments do not prove, 
though they make it highly probable. They imply 
that, so far as the utilization of the total energy 
of the diet was concerned, there was a slight ad- 
vantage in economy in favor of the ordinary as 
compared with the alcohol diet, especially when the 
subjects were at hard muscular work, but the dif- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

ference was inside the limits of experimental error 
and too small to be of practical consequence. On 
an average it was less than i per cent, of the total 
energy and hardly reached 5 per cent, of the energy 
of the alcohol. From this it follows that the energy 
of the alcohol was utilized nearly if not quite as 
well as that of the fats, sugar, and starch which it 
replaced. 

10. We repeat that there is a very essential dif- 
ference between the transformation of the potential 
energy of alcohol into the kinetic energy of heat, 
or of either internal or external muscular work, and 
the usefulness or harmfulness of alcohol as a part 
of ordinary diet. Regarding this latter question 
the experiments bring no more evidence than they 
do regarding the influence of alcohol upon the 
nervous system or its general effect upon health and 
welfare. 

This work will probably be continued, and so far 
as it has gone, shows an undoubted food value to 
alcohol, yet for one in health, it is one of the most 
wasteful, irregular, uncertain, and often most in- 
jurious of all substances considered as foods. 

With the sick man it is different. Here it stimu- 
lates and soothes and is rapidly burned up without 
undergoing primary assimilation, and here it fur- 
nishes kinetic energy to the system when greatly 

needed. The sick man burns up alcohol in his 

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EATING TO LIVE 

system much more rapidly than the well man. Al- 
cohol in very small amounts appears to stimulate 
digestion, but in larger amounts retards it or stops 
it altogether. 

Alcohol, nicotine, and morphine all diminish tem- 
perature, the first two by relaxing the blood-vessels 
and increasing perspiration and the latter by pre- 
venting all glandular and molecular activity. Alco- 
hol in any form reduces the alkalinity of the blood, 
and is therefore bad in gouty and rheumatic dis- 
eases. Alcohol undoubtedly reduces the bacteri- 
cidal action of the blood. A sober guinea-pig will 
withstand six times the dose of toxines that a 
drunken guinea-pig will. Alcohol's affinity for oxy- 
gen, of which it robs the blood, causes the loading 
of the blood with toxines, which result from im- 
perfect oxidation of the tissues, and thus we see 
how the drunken guinea-pig succumbed before the 
sober guinea-pig. 

Alcohol bloats human beings when taken in ex- 
cess, and gives a false look of health in its earlier 
stages, followed later by repulsive looks in the in- 
dividual. This bloat is an abnormal tissue, an un- 
balanced tissue, which should have been consumed 
by the vital processes in health by oxidation, but the 
alcohol has used up this oxygen and the normal 
oxidation of the fat did not go on, and hence it is 
stored up as useless, harmful, unbalanced tissue, 

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EATING TO LIVE 

and the victim is an unhealthy fat person, his ear- 
marks being plainly visible, for he carries his own 
sign. He is a bloat. 

Alcohol goes largely to acid in its digestion, and 
this is the way it reduces the alkalinity of the blood. 
Sugar with alcohol increases its power of reducing 
the alkalinity of the blood; so beware! take your 
whiskey straight, not as a cocktail. The sugar in 
wine is apt to start indigestion by causing intes- 
tinal fermentation, etc. The tendency is now to 
dry wines, especially the champagnes. This is as it 
should be for health. 

A recent writer, in the London Lancet, says it 
has now been established by several well-known 
classical researches that up to a certain point alcohol 
is a food and past that point it is a poison. To 
draw a sharp line of demarcation which shall define 
for all persons when its action as a food exactly 
ceases and when its effect as a poison exactly begins 
is barely possible. The tissues of different indi- 
viduals differ greatly in regard to their oxidizing 
capacity, and it is a matter of common observation 
that there are persons who can tolerate more alco- 
hol than others without apparent injury to health. 
Again, occupation and environment very materially 
affect the powers of the body to assimilate alcohol. 
Thus men who pursue an active life in the open air 
are able to indulge in alcohol more freely than are 

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EATING TO LIVE 

those who are engaged in sedentary occupations. 
It is all a question of functional activity, of the 
condition of the tissues to oxidize the combustible 
material presented to them. 

It has been conjectured that the oxidizing power 
of the tissues, over alcohol in particular, must have 
steadily diminished since the time when our ances- 
tors drank their three bottles of port with impunity. 
These were the times of George III., and before. 
Such a performance, at any rate, is seldom heard 
of nowadays. The quantity of alcohol imbibed in 
such an exploit must obviously be greatly in ex- 
cess of the limit of the body's oxidizing capacity, 
as deduced from scientific experiment. When one 
has been drinking too much and is oppressed and 
heady, the cause is the inability to oxidize the excess 
of alcohol in the system. Go out into the fresh air 
and breathe in and out rapidly — let the expirations 
and inspirations be long, rapid, and deep. General 
oxidation in the system is increased, great relief 
soon comes to the sufferer, and the head gets level. 
One and one-half fluidounces of pure alcohol is the 
utmost quantity that can be completely utilized as 
food in the human body per diem, according to 
experimental observation. A quantity ingested ad- 
ditional to that amount therefore may escape oxi- 
dation, incomplete products of combustion, so to 
speak, may be formed, and toxic effects ensue. It 

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EATING TO LIVE 

is therefore interesting to consider what amounts 
of the ordinary alcoholic drinks contain this per- 
missible allowance of alcohol — say, one and one- 
half fluidounces — which is assumed to be the ex- 
treme limit of the oxidizing power of the human 
body. Taking brandy and whiskey to contain 50 
per cent, by volume of alcohol, three fluidounces, 
or six tablespoonfuls, of these spirits would con- 
tain the maximum allowable daily dose. This 
would be the equivalent of about two glasses of 
brandy or whiskey and water per diem, each con- 
taining three tablespoonfuls of spirit and a half- 
pint of water, to exceed which would be to risk a 
toxic result. Port and sherry, with their average 
of 20 per cent, of alcohol, would contain the per- 
missible amount of alcohol in seven ounces, or a 
little over two wineglassfuls, assuming each to con- 
tain three fluidounces. The limit of white wines, 
claret, or champagne, with 10 per cent, of alcohol, 
would be fifteen fluidounces, while one and one- 
half fluidounces of alcohol represent about thirty 
fluidounces, or a pint and a half, — say three ordi- 
nary glasses in which it is served of lager beer, ale, 
or porter. The question is, however, complicated 
in the case of wines and beers, because these con- 
tain nutritive matters in addition. Apart from the 
fact that to avoid injury to health the amount of 
alcohol consumed per diem should be limited 

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EATING TO LIVE 

strictly to one and one-half fluidounces, it cannot be 
regarded for practical purposes as a food in the 
sense of a true reparative. It is at least a producer 
of heat and energy, and then frequently at the ex- 
pense of healthy cellular activity, while its cost from 
the point of view of actual food value has been cal- 
culated to be eight times more than that of bread. 

As to the use of alcohol as a beverage or as a 
medicine in the tropics we have a statement from 
Major Charles E. Woodruff, surgeon, U. S. A., 
which controverts preconceived opinions on this 
subject. When President Eliot of Harvard Uni- 
versity addressed a group of teachers who were 
about to depart for the Philippines, he admonished 
them, among other things, to abstain from alcohol. 
Major Woodruff says that was bad advice. 

In 1 902, being impressed by the common assertion 
that alcohol was bad for our soldiers in the tropics, 
he made a study of the physical condition and physi- 
cal habits of an infantry regiment that had been three 
years in the Philippines, and of a cavalry regiment 
that had been there fifteen months. He found, to his 
astonishment and somewhat to his confusion, says 
American Medicine, that 68 per cent, of the excessive 
drinkers retained their health,66 per cent, of the mod- 
erate drinkers, and 46 per cent, of the abstainers. 
Of the excessives, iy 2 per cent, died; of the mod- 
erates, 4 per cent. ; and of the abstainers, 9 per cent. 
18 273 



EATING TO LIVE 

Major Woodruff's comment is : If these figures 
prove anything, they prove that in the terrible de- 
pressing, neurasthenic, anaemic conditions brought 
about by living in a tropical climate, against whose 
onslaughts we have no protection like the dark- 
skinned native, a white man who is not assisted by 
a little alcohol is more harmed by the climate than 
a man who does get it. Moreover, the damage 
done to these young men by occasional sprees is not 
so great as the damage done by the climate to the 
abstainers. 

What a lot of misstatements have we received 
from our teachers, text-books, and authorities ! As 
to the school-teachers, he relates that he was often 
called in to see them professionally, and that he 
never encountered a more horrible condition of 
health in any people as a class. Every woman 
among them whom he saw was in a wretched state. 

He says there is less drunkenness among our sol- 
diers in the tropics than at home, and gives statis- 
tics. He also insists that Americans need animal 
food in the tropics if they are to avoid the ex- 
haustions due to the climate and the consequent 
infections. Here is a problem that the authorities 
must work out, and doubtless the matter will be 
taken up in good time. 

To the normal average healthy man in a healthy 
climate, it is a question with me whether any 

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EATING TO LIVE 

amount of alcohol ever did him the least good. If 
taken by the professional man, the statesman, the 
soldier, the business man, it surely warps his judg- 
ment and imperils his health, for the slight indul- 
gence gradually leads to more. Probably many 
in literature, in business ventures, in diplomacy, in 
professional matters, in war, have accomplished 
great deeds by the stimulus of alcohol, yet these 
must be the exception to the general rule that 
" Sana mens in sano corpore" is the all-to-be-de- 
sired condition of the active man. To this condition 
alcohol is antagonistic. While it may have been 
Byron's substitute for riches, for man, it is the 
invention of the devil. 

As to the alcoholic beverages sold in the general 
market, Dr. Wiley, the government expert, puts 
forth a soul-consuming statement, yet in the face 
of all this, Congress and many of our State Legis- 
latures refuse to pass a pure-food bill, which is the 
only remedy for this horrible state of affairs. The 
scoundrels who are poisoning the race with such 
stuffs appear to be far more influential than the 
few good people of the land who are pressing such 
laws. I say few good people, for the masses, even 
of our intelligent citizens, appear to be absolutely 
heedless and careless of the great wrongs being in- 
flicted on the human race. Politics and money are 
here the great enemies to mankind, and, sad to say, 

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EATING TO LIVE 

as yet politics, politicians, and money appear to be 
supreme. May God speed the day when they will 
be dethroned and laws for the benefit of all will 
hold sway and drive the rascals of all degrees from 
their stronghold. 

Dr. Wiley says 85 per cent, of all whiskey sold is 
spurious. Bad whiskey is not confined, he says, to 
the cheaper bars. You will find it in the clubs and 
in the hotel restaurants. Dr. Wiley says the only 
remedy is in a pure- food bill to be passed by Con- 
gress, and this is what all good people should work 
for. It should cover not only what we drink as 
beverages, but what we take as medicines, and 
what we eat as foods. 

Again, as to the effect of alcohol on the system, 
Professor Chittenden says that while it lowers the 
rate of proteid catabolism, it increases notably the 
output of uric acid and purin bases. The increase 
of uric acid is due to change in the rate of oxida- 
tion in the liver of uric acid of exogenous origin, 
or else there is a change in the rate of production 
of uric acid from the precursors of uric acid con- 
tained in the food. There is also the possibility of 
other oxidative processes in the liver being affected. 
Alcohol therefore presents a dangerous side wholly 
wanting in carbohydrates and fats. The dele- 
terious influence is exerted only in connection with 
exogenous uric acid, — that is, uric acid coming 

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EATING TO LIVE 

from without the system; hence in many diseases 
in which a non-purin diet is used the urates would 
not be increased. 

G. L. Peabody says alcohol applied to the skin 
penetrates to its deeper layers, thus disinfecting 
it. By bringing about local changes in the blood- 
supply it affects inflammations not entirely super- 
ficial. Compresses soaked in alcohol and covered 
by gutta-percha and cotton would give great relief 
in peritonitis, neuritis, phlebitis, and herpes zoster. 
By its persistent use suppuration can often be 
averted in many inflammatory local conditions. In 
parts where the skin is thin and in children care 
must be used that sloughing does not occur. It is 
an agent of great value in poisoning by carbolic 
acid internally and in external burns from the same. 
In acute febrile diseases it is sometimes worth 
more than all other cardiac stimulants, since fever 
does not interfere with its usefulness. To decide 
on the patient who needs it is not always easy. 
There is little danger of engendering the alcohol 
habit by giving it in fevers. This danger in- 
creases progressively during convalescence. 

It is well to know that brandy should be at least 
six years old before it is fit for use and whiskey 
should be at least five years old. Port, sherry, Ma- 
deira, and champagnes are the stronger wines, 

while the Burgundies, clarets, and hocks are the 

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EATING TO LIVE 

weaker. The important ingredients of wine are the 
alcohol, the sugar, the flavor, and aroma. It is im- 
portant to know the relative quantity of these in 
each kind. 

Port has its own color, the port-wine color, ap- 
proaching purple, though there are some nearly 
white ports. Sherries vary in color from dark red 
to very pale, and so do the Madeiras. Clarets and 
red Burgundies vary in red or claret colors, and 
many Burgundies are white. True clarets are 
never white. Hocks are usually straw color or 
white. Champagnes vary in color from almost 
white to pink, the color, as a rule, being the fancy 
of the maker. Whiskey, brandy, ales, and beers 
vary as to the demands of the trade for this or that 
color, whiskey and brandy being colorless when 
first distilled. They are colored by the addition of 
caramel or burnt sugar. Gin, as a rule, is white, 
and the Irish and Scotch whiskies vary in color 
from almost white to a dark straw color. The cor- 
dials are usually colored to suit the fancy of the 
manufacturer. Whiskies, brandies, cordials, and 
all artificially-colored liquors should be left as na- 
ture intended them, — entirely free from artificial 
coloring or artificial flavoring. Such will never be ; 
coloring for the eye, flavoring for the palate, and 
blending for both will always be carried on so long 

as " water shall run and grass shall grow." 

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EATING TO LIVE 

It is said the Eskimo has no alcoholic drink, for 
the climate is too cold for fermentation, and he can- 
not make it there, but I have no doubt that his more 
Southern brothers have long ere this supplied him, 
even though alcohol may lessen his power to resist 
cold. Going South we find all nations have their 
favorite tipple, and far South we find only those 
drinks which are fermented in a hurry and drunk 
in a hurry, for they will not keep ever thirty-six 
hours, as the Mexican pulque. 

Brandy is, we all know, distilled from wines, 
while wines are fermented grape juice, as a rule. 
Brandy in the market is of various colors, owing to 
the amount of coloring matter put in it, — some very 
dark, the pure being colorless. The best brandy I 
ever tasted was made in California and sent to me 
from the vaults of General H. M. Naglee. It was 
selected stock from the time the grapes blossomed 
until it was barrelled in the vaults. It had no color 
whatever, no artificial flavoring, but had the rich 
aroma of the grape, and no headache in it. To 
make brandy for the market at present we must add 
color and the true brandy flavor, in addition to the 
natural ethers, sold in any quantity, to give it the 
bon gout. 

Whiskey. — Probably whiskey is the safest of 
the spirits to use in the United States, and it should 
be the cheapest. Age regulates its price, and the 

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EATING TO LIVE 

fusel oils in it decrease by age, so old whiskey is the 
best and safest, provided it has been kept in wood. 
There are artificial ways of aging whiskey, as 
running it down a woollen string from the higher 
stories of a building to the lower stories, each run- 
ning down evaporating it and losing its fusel oils, 
equivalent to one year passed in the barrel. This 
is rather roguery than true aging. Rye whiskey is 
probably the best in this country, although whiskey 
is made from wheat, barley, corn, and other grains. 
The flavor comes from the process of kiln drying 
of the grain or grains of which it is made. The 
Scotch and Irish whiskies get their flavor from the 
peat used in drying the grains. Scotch and Irish 
whiskies are now largely used the world over. I 
believe it is the favorite tipple at the bars, and, with 
the aerated waters in the combination, is, to quite 
an extent, replacing the drinking of champagne, 
even at dinner. Champagnes as now used are most 
of them very dry, — that is, quite free from sugar, 
— and hence the combination of whiskies with 
the carbonated water makes a very good substi- 
tute. In all of our drinks with heads on them, the 
carbonic acid gas is the alluring inveiglement to the 
palate, anyhow. 

The mashes used in making whiskies are the 
sweet and the sour, and corn and rye are often 

mixed in given parts with the malt. This makes 

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EATING TO LIVE 

sour mash if scalded with the refuse liquor used 
before, this containing the ferment to start alcoholic 
fermentation. Sweet mash is made by adding 
water only, and yeast to start the fermentation. 

Rum comes to us from Jamaica, Santa Cruz, and 
New England chiefly. Molasses is fermented, and 
then from this the rum is distilled. Santa Cruz, 
with the lime fruit, makes the best punch, but it 
does not compare with a punch made from the pure 
California brandy. 

Let me digress here. We often hear the doctor 
say he is giving the patient milk punch when he is 
giving him whiskey and milk. There is no such 
thing as milk punch made from whiskey and milk. 
Milk punch is made from brandy and milk. Milk 
toddy is made from whiskey and milk. 

Gin is usually colorless and has some diuretic 
properties, owing to the juniper and other aro- 
matics in it, which also give it its peculiar flavor. 
Gin is distilled from almost any fermented grain, 
but the grains are not previously kiln-dried. Then, 
to get a neutral spirit, there is a second distillation, 
and to this the flavoring of the aromatics is added. 
Gin is a strong liquor. The English call it Hol- 
lands, and Old Tom gin, a favorite brand, is sweeter 
than ordinary gin. Individually, I do not cotton 
to gin, and I do not advise any one else to cotton to 
it. I have indulged in it on but three occasions, as 

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EATING TO LIVE 

I remember, — once at college, when it made me 
quite ill ; the next time when I took a cocktail with 
the captain of a clipper ship just starting on a long 
voyage, and we were shipwrecked within a week; 
and the last time with a friend, on the birth of his 
long-wished-for son, and on my next visit the son 
was dead. These two last cocktails were taken 
before breakfast, that heathenish time to consume 
spirits, although it has been a custom of my life- 
long environment. Thanks, I do not take gin, 
even though Lord Byron gave it renown in poetry 
as the poor man's substitute for riches; nor do I 
drink before breakfast, nor before noon, nor never 
did but twice in my life. 

There are other spirits, but not in general use, 
and it is not worth while to take space to enumerate 
them. Cordials are somewhat used, generally after 
eating. Chartreuse, hot and peppery, is among the 
best. Maraschino is toothsome, but too sweet. 
Curagoa is of orange peel flavor and is one of the 
favorites. 

There are many West India cordials, among the 
best of which is parfait V amour and the Vanilla cor- 
dial. As to cordials as a class, they are merely 
sweetened and artificially flavored spirits. 

Beer. — The English, as a rule, speak of all malt 
liquors as beer. All malt liquors are fattening and 
are good tonics under proper conditions. Lager 

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EATING TO LIVE 

beer is made from infused malt, which is barley 
dampened and allowed to germinate and then kiln 
dried, and the whole flavored with hops. The 
temperature to which the malt is brought in the kiln 
determines the color of the product. If the tem- 
perature runs below 140 F., you get pale beer; 
increasing the temperature gives you dark beer, or 
ale, up to porter, which is almost black. Of course, 
by the malting process the starch of the grain is 
converted into dextrin, and so on up to sugar. The 
brewer, to make beer, first infuses the malt, then 
boils it with hops, which give flavor and bitterness 
and keeping quality, and lastly cools it rapidly and 
adds yeast to start fermentation. In three or four 
days the fermentation is completed, the alcohol of 
the beer is developed (if lager beer, about 3 per 
cent.), and carbonic acid is driven off. The prod- 
uct is then allowed to clarify of its own accord, or 
beechwood or isinglass is used, which carry down 
by physical laws all the particles which render the 
fluid turbid. Lager beer should be stored in dark, 
cool vaults for from four to eight months, or even 
longer, to give it the best form. As now produced, 
it is said to be put on the market at a much earlier 
stage of its life, both to the detriment of the beer 
and of the consumer. 

Ale is made from light-colored malt usually, 
hops are used to give it a bitter taste, and all of 

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EATING TO LIVE 

the sugar goes to alcohol, giving it an average of 
6 per cent, alcohol. Porter is strong, dark ale 
really, the malt used being dried at a greater heat. 
Brown stout is stronger still, both porter and brown 
stout containing more of the carbohydrates ex- 
tracted from the grains from which they are made 
than either ale or beer. In alcohol they are about 
equal to ale. 

Malt liquors fresh from the wood are better and 
more healthy than the same products bottled, be- 
cause in bottling malt liquors, especially for ex- 
portation from the countries in which they are 
made, antiferments, in the shape of salicylic or boric 
acid and such, are apt to have been added, all of 
which slow digestion. For the same reason many 
of them are reinforced with alcohol, and thus con- 
tain more than their normal proportion of that 
spirit. So it will be seen that it is usually better, 
provided the Boniface keeps his pumps and en- 
vironment clean, or better still draws it directly 
from the wood, to " rush the growler" when we 
want pure beer, than to purchase it bottled. 

Now, as to the malt extracts, so called, of which 
the shops are full, and many of which are not 
even good porter. To make true malt extract, you 
rapidly evaporate an infusion of malt to the con- 
sistence of thick honey at a temperature not above 
130 F. It should contain all of the diastase in 

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EATING TO LIVE 

the malt. It should be sweet in taste and of acid 
reaction, and should mix easily with water. Some 
of these malts are really only glucose, and some, 
as stated before, not more than beers. To be right 
it should not contain the least alcohol. If it does, 
the fermentation has gone too far. If it contains 
glucose or alcohol, it is a food. It is of no good 
unless it contains only diastase, as far as aiding 
digestion is concerned; that is to say, its claimed 
merits depend on diastase, and not on glucose, alco- 
hol, and such. Acids of the stomach destroy the 
diastase, and therefore it must be taken before 
meals, before the stimulus of the food draws out 
the gastric juices. Of whatever use it is, it is to aid 
in digestion of starches, and it can only do this when 
it meets with alkaline or neutral surroundings, and 
this is not often, for starchy indigestion always 
brings its acidity. As a rule, then, the malt ex- 
tracts of the shops are trash, and worse than trash. 
It is better to buy good beer, ale, or porter. 

Wines. — The grape is renowned in song and 
story; in history both sacred and profane it holds 
a leading part, and Bacchus, its mythological god, 
is the father of all the ills it has brought to the 
world and the hero of all who worship at his shrine. 
What a power for good and what a weapon for 
evil environ its luscious juices! Botanically, it is 
of the genus Vitis, the type of the order Vitaceoe. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

In the wild state the flowers of some specimens are 
imperfect but very fragrant, but in cultivated speci- 
mens they are always perfect and have the delight- 
ful odor of the mignonette. The horticulturist now 
divides grapes into the European and American 
varieties. The European varieties will not grow in 
the open air east of the Rocky Mountains, and they 
have been so long cultivated in Europe for flavor 
and size that the vine has become delicate and the 
prey of insects and fungi, and to rehabilitate them, 
it has become necessary to grow the European 
varieties on true American stocks. The same fact 
is often shown in nature, not only in fruits and 
vegetables and such, but in animals as well. In 
American grapes the seeds are held together by 
the pulp, which slips from the skin easily. In for- 
eign grapes the seeds are easily extracted and the 
skin adheres to the pulp and all are eaten together, 
as before stated. 

The grape is subject to many enemies, both in 
this country and in Europe, of which I know prac- 
tically something, for I have a vineyard of my own 
which has often demonstrated to me the truth of 
the saying, " There is many a slip between the cup 
and the lip.' , The phylloxera — Phylloxera Vasta- 
trix — is the great European enemy, and also in 
California, while in the East the rots, fungi, and 
Anthracnose are the serious troubles. You can- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

not raise grapes now without spraying with copper 
solutions and arsenites, and what effect these spray- 
ings are going to have on the yeast fungus which 
nature develops on the stems of grapes to set up 
the wine fermentation is for the future to decide. 
If we are to get these ferments from yeast, the 
flavor of the product must suffer. 

Wine is the fermented juice of the grape. The 
finer wines are still made in Europe, where the 
experience of ages gives them every advantage, but 
America is now producing the ordinary wines of 
good flavor and purity, and these are far better, 
and within the reach of all, pecuniarily, than the 
doubtful and expensive foreign wines, unless you 
can get these out of the line of general trade, from 
special sources, and at enormous prices; as, for 
instance, champagne of a certain year and certain 
vintage at one hundred dollars per dozen, which is 
frequently paid by those having the taste and the 
means with which to gratify it. Forty years ago 
I drank clarets and the other lighter wines in Cali- 
fornia. Invariably they had an earthy taste, as 
though filtered through earth. They had not the 
least idea then what particular soil and what par- 
ticular location gave certain flavors to the grape, 
and thence to the wine, a fact which they are rapidly 
learning now. To illustrate this point, I once 

visited the celebrated Schloss Johannisberger, less 

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EATING TO LIVE 

than fifty acres in extent, on the Rhine, where that 
fragrant, aromatic, and much-sought-after wine is 
made from the grapes grown on the hill, and is 
equalled by no other wine of its kind, except, per- 
haps, a fine old Tokay. The gentleman with me, 
an attache of the place, showed me much as to the 
intricacies of getting true Johannisberg. They 
knew the soil, every foot of it. He showed a place 
on the hill-side, say thirty feet square. In this 
square were arranged a number of small plots, and 
every one of these small plots produced a grape 
which gave a wine of a different flavor. The best 
gave a wine worth its weight in gold, — the genuine 
Schloss Johannisberger, — and only a Metternich, or 
friends of the house of Metternich, ever tasted it, and 
so on down, until the poorest quality went to the gen- 
eral trade ; but he added, " No one ever gets a bottle 
even of the poorest Johannisberger from the general 
trade. If he thinks he does he has been defrauded." 
The light wines are those which contain the 
smaller percentage of alcohol, as clarets and hocks, 
and do not keep after they have been exposed to the 
air. These have about 8 per cent, of alcohol. The 
heavy, or fortified, or reinforced, or brandied wines 
are another division, and keep indefinitely when 
exposed to the air. Sherry and Madeira are ex- 
amples of these, and they contain from 17 to 18 per 

cent, of alcohol. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

We have sweet wines and dry wines. A sweet 
wine is sweet, and a dry wine has very little sugar. 
We speak of a sweet or a dry sherry. We speak 
of champagne as dry, extra dry, as sec, or tres sec, 
and of Vin Brut, a wine fermented absolutely 
naturally, without artificial interference; no sugar 
is added, and the natural sugar of the grape has 
nearly all gone to alcohol. True dryness is a result 
of age, the sugar being slowly converted into alco- 
hol, but the wine-man is full of tricks; in fact, 
wine is the subject of trickery from the grape to the 
consumer. To hurry up dryness, an artificial 
acetous fermentation is started and the sugar is 
nearly all consumed by this in a comparatively short 
time, — say six months, — while the natural process 
may take years. Thus is champagne dry because 
it is sour from the development of vinegar, and is 
not dry because the sugar has been naturally con- 
verted into alcohol as it should be to be good 
wine. Take this wine, let it become exhausted by 
losing all of its free carbonic acid gas, and it will 
turn litmus blue to red, showing that its acidity is 
not altogether due to the carbon dioxide. 

The connoisseur applies various terms to wines. 
There is the aroma or bouquet; there is the body, 
that which makes us feel as though we were swal- 
lowing something denser than water, though not 

really true, and the nearer wine approaches, in 
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EATING TO LIVE 

swallowing it, to water, the less body it has. Then 
wine has color, fruitiness, astringency; strength, 
due to its alcohol ; its acidity and its sparkle, due to 
its carbon dioxide mainly. If it were not for the 
sparkle, there would be much less consumption of 
many palatable drinks than there is at present. 
What would beer be without its sparkle, or cham- 
pagne? Try exhausted beer or exhausted cham- 
pagne, and you will see. Wine properly used has 
a good effect on the system. Its abuse entails un- 
told evils. Liebig said, " Wine is unsurpassed by 
any product natural or artificial, as a restorer of 
the vital forces when they have been exhausted ; it 
animates and revives the saddened spirits, it serves 
as a corrective and antidote in all irregularities of 
the animal economy, which it preserves from the 
passing ills to which organic nature subjects it." 
In wine there is a union of alcohol with an acid 
liquid ; the acid holds the alcohol in check, especially 
the effect of the alcohol on the nerves ; the tannin 
and coloring matters favor rather than retard di- 
gestion, and the bouquet serves to soothe and quiet 
restlessness. Wine has a density nearly equal to 
water, it is absorbed much less rapidly than spirits, 
and thus its effects come less rapidly and last longer 
than the effects of spirits. Hence as remedies, 
when you want rapid action, use spirits, not wine. 
Wine enters the system with no change except 

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EATING TO LIVE 

being mixed with the digestive juices, and absorbs 
none of the digestive ferments in its own digestion, 
and hence its usefulness in dyspeptic troubles. 

The expert wine-tasters are important men, and 
are really of great use in the world. Their powers 
of discrimination by taste and smell are beyond be- 
lief, and such men are absolutely necessary to pro- 
tect both the dealer and the consumer, for chemis- 
try has become such a science as to make possible 
the imitation of all beverages without the presence 
of any of their natural constituents. It is respon- 
sible for nearly all of the frauds which deceive both 
the eye and the palate and overturn the digestive 
processes. The wine-taster is the bulwark here 
which separates honesty from fraud. 

Red and white wines differ materially in their 
composition and effect upon the system. Red 
wines are the best and safest, as a rule, for the 
white wines are often bleached by sulphur fumes, 
and these fumes slow digestion. 

Statistics show that we in America are becoming 
more and more a wine-drinking people and less a 
spirit-drinking people. If we drink at all, this is 
better. As a rule, red wines are fermented in con- 
tact with the stems, seeds, and skins of the grapes, 
and the white wines are fermented separately from 
these. Guyot says the difference in color is an acci- 
dent if honestly done without bleaching. The real 

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EATING TO LIVE 

difference consists in the special and often opposite 
hygienic qualities of these two kinds of wine. If 
white wine is fermented from white grapes in con- 
junction with their seeds, stems, and skins, we may 
get a white wine having the hygienic qualities of 
red wine, not otherwise. White wines made with- 
out using the seeds, stems, or skins of the grapes 
are diffusible stimulants to the nervous system. If 
they are light, they act rapidly on the physical 
organization, of which they intensify all the func- 
tions; they escape rapidly through the skin and 
mucous membranes, and above all through the 
kidneys. Red wines are more tonic and persistent 
stimulants of the nerves, the muscles, and diges- 
tive organs; their organic action is slower and 
longer, they are not eliminated so rapidly from the 
system, and their general action is astringent, per- 
sistent, and concentrated. These are the well- 
defined differences between the red and the white 
wines. 

Sherry. — Sherry is a Spanish wine, named for 
the town of Jerez de la Frontera, in Andalusia. It 
is a heavy wine and improves by age ; the older the 
sherry the better it is, provided it is brut, — that 
is to say, if nature, not art, has been allowed to 
work it out. As it ages, it gets dryer, because the 
sugar is converted into alcohol, and if old enough it 
becomes inky dry for the same reason. Its color 

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EATING TO LIVE 

varies from dark red to almost white. By the 
makers the flavor, which is a peculiar ether flavor, 
the sherry flavor, is formed by the soleras, or stock, 
wines. This stock is kept up and used to flavor 
wines in bulk. Solera wine is no more palatable 
than sulphuric ether, but gives the flavor to all 
sherries as it is added in larger or smaller quanti- 
ties. Sherries are all reinforced or fortified by 
brandy. 

The Amontillado sherries have the ether flavor 
most strongly marked. The presence of aldehyde 
causes this flavor. The Manzanilla sherries are so 
named from their flavor resembling the Manzanilla 
or chamomile flower. These are the white or 
nearly white sherries. The sherries we get in the 
shops, or from dealers, often are known by the 
names of the commercial houses which deal in them, 
as the Gordon sherries, etc. 

Sherry is often too alcoholic and has the effect 
of spirits, and it is not, as a rule, a good wine for 
the sick, except used as wine whey, and I do not 
recommend this, except when we are, as often hap- 
pens, at our wit's end for something palatable to the 
patient. There is one place it comes in, and that 
is as a substitute for champagne when that wine is 
too expensive for the sick one, or good champagne 
cannot be obtained. Mix it in definite proportions 
with the so-called soda water of the shops, the car- 

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EATING TO LIVE 

bonic acid water, made by charging water with 
carbon dioxide up to fifteen atmospheres at least, 
and served to customers in glass siphons which 
preserve it well charged until all of the contents 
have been used. Such a mixture will often be 
found of the greatest benefit, and should be much 
more used among the sick, especially, than it is. 

Madeira. — Madeira, so far as the old wines are 
concerned, is almost a passed wine. A moderate 
amount of this wine is still preserved in the cellars 
of collectors, and possibly now and then, from these 
sources, can be found commercially. The late 
Ward McAllister, a good judge, called Madeira 
the king of wines. He was doubtless correct. 

During the past winter I visited the Madeira 
Islands. It is a lovely spot with tropical tempera- 
ture. The islands are evidently of volcanic origin 
thrown up from the bottom of the sea. In our win- 
ters it is becoming more and more a health resort, 
and deservedly so. It is the home of the grape. 
Until within a few years most of the old vines 
yielded to disease and wine-making became a thing 
of the past. The people have succeeded now to a 
great extent in eradicating disease among the vines, 
the grape is now again flourishing, and wine- 
making is again quite an industry. As these wines 
become seasoned by age we may again begin to find 

good Madeira in the markets at a reasonable price. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

It is well to know something of wines, even if 
we are not all connoisseurs. We should know 
something of their merits and history, when they 
are discussed, as they often are, so cheerily, at a 
pleasant dinner. In times passed, I have tasted 
some of the good old stock Madeiras, and the 
flavor of a Butler 16, or of a Thorn dyke sercial, 
or a Charleston Blandy of 1828, lingers still close to 
my palate, and I wish I could enjoy them still. 
Alas, I cannot do it, even if I could find such in 
existence, for the old stocks must have nearly 
passed away, and the long lapse of the Madeira 
grapes from disease has made impossible the replen- 
ishing of the old stocks, and the new wines are as 
yet unfit to drink; and if they were, probably 
modern methods will make impossible the old wines 
of the honest old days. Madeira is the most gouty 
of wines, and many among us cannot touch it, even 
if we get it, and it is not, as the French would say 
in regard to Madeira, " Chacun a son gout," but 
rather " each one as to his gout." 

Ward McAllister said Madeira was a national 
wine and only matured well in our Southern States. 
It raises man's vitality and leaves no headache. 
McAllister said age always improved a good Ma- 
deira, but never a poor one. 

There are stock Madeiras in this country to-day 
over one hundred years old, but if always in glass, 

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EATING TO LIVE 

I do not see how they have improved much, un- 
less they have been recorked every seven years and 
allowed access to the air for some time. Mc- 
Allister's best way of keeping Madeira was in the 
garret, with a corn-cob for a stopper. Light and 
air do not injure its flavor. The proper glass from 
which to drink Madeira is the thin pipe-stem wine- 
glass. 

The old stock Madeiras were, most of them, 
named from the ships which brought them over, and 
the famous ones were the Marsh and Benson 1809, 
the Coles, the Stuyvesant, the Clark, the Eliza. In 
Philadelphia the Butler 16 was famous. In Bos- 
ton the Kirby, the Amory 1800, and 181 1, and the 
Otis. In Baltimore, the Marshall, the Meredith, or 
Great Unknown, the Holmes Demijohn, the Mob, 
the Colt. In Charleston, the Rutledge, the Hurri- 
cane, the Earthquake, the Maid, the Tradd Street. 
In Savannah, the All Saints 1791, the Catharine 
Banks, the Louisa Cecilia 181 8, the Rapid 181 7, 
and the Widow. I will add the Blandys as among 
the noted and better stock wines of the day. One 
of the Blandy Brothers was the head of a well- 
known Delaware family, some of whom reside there 
now. At the present time the house of Blandy 
Brothers is the leading commercial house at Fun- 
chal, Madeira Islands, which house was founded 
many years ago, the head of the house coming from 

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EATING TO LIVE 

England. This house is now active in doing good 
work in rehabilitating the wine industry on the 
islands, so long interrupted by the disease of the 
vines, now probably conquered. 

Cheese and nuts bring out the flavor of sherry, 
port, and Madeira, and this is why they come in so 
well and cause a cheery lingering over the wine. 
This may all appear to be fudge and gossip as 
introduced here, but I assure you it is history and 
worthy of being preserved. In the old days many 
gentlemen imported their pipes of Madeira, even 
from the days of the early settlements on the James 
River in Colonial times, where the old planters ex- 
changed their grain for supplies for their families 
and plantations, and the pipe of Madeira was a fre- 
quent article in the exchange. Again, should any 
professional friend at any time have one of the old 
boys " with a toe" for his patient, and on one of his 
visits find him suffering and cast down and even 
emphatic in his remarks condemnatory of gout, I 
advise him to give the old gentleman these lines to 
read, not whereby to do penance, but to bring to his 
mind possibly visions of the good old days now past 
and gone, and to help assure him and to reassure 
him that there had been other sufferers, too, who 
had passed through it all, and that again, even to 
him, dark as the present may look, le bon temps 
Viendra. 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Port wine is a very gouty wine, in which fermen- 
tation has been arrested by adding a certain amount 
of alcohol. It improves greatly by age and in the 
bottle, it only being necessary to watch the corks 
and recork it about, as a rule, every five or six 
years. It is an astringent wine, and is used in 
diarrhoeas when wine is indicated. It is often used 
for making the famous " mulled wine," which is 
a good tonic taken with a cracker. The sweet 
wines, as a rule, in any quantity are rather indi- 
gestible and should be taken merely in social life 
by the thimbleful. The Tokays, Malagas, Lach- 
rymae Christi, etc., contain more sugar and less 
alcohol. Age renders them dryer as the sugar goes 
to alcohol, but even this does not recommend them, 
even for sick women, who, as a rule, defy all the 
rules of hygiene in their love of sweets, especially 
the cordials, Malagas, and sweet champagnes. 

There is one thing to remember about all wines : 
a sound wine may be acid, but this acidity is owing 
to the natural acid of the wine, tartaric acid. 
A spoiled wine, or turned wine, is sour because it 
contains acetic acid or vinegar, which has developed 
because the fermentation has gone too far, and it 
has soured just as cider or perry sours after a short 
keeping. 

What is the difference between a claret and a 
Burgundy? Clarets are not known in France as 

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EATING TO LIVE 

clarets, but are known as Bordeaux wines, and 
common wine is vin ordinaire, which may apply to 
any of the cheap everyday wines. The Burgundies 
are stronger wines than the Bordeaux or clarets, 
and are therefore more gouty, and are both red and 
white, but the true and best Burgundies are red. 
True Burgundy, as the French understand it, is 
made from the grapes raised in the department of 
Burgundy called Cote d'Or, the golden side, which 
is only thirty-six miles long and reaches from Cha- 
lon-Sur-Saone to Dijon. Chambertin we rarely 
see in America, or Corton, or Clos de Vougeot, or 
others of the true Burgundies. Burgundies do not 
travel as well nor keep as well as the clarets, and 
hence clarets are much more frequently seen here. 
The best white Burgundy of the Cote d'Or is the 
Montrachet. The most common of the white Bur- 
gundies we see in America are the Chablis wines. 
They are good, have good flavor, and are desirable 
for the sick where a Burgundy is needed, yet they 
are not absolutely true Burgundies, and are not 
wines made from the Cote d'Or grapes. 

The Bordeaux or claret wines are named from 
the city of Bordeaux, the capital of the department 
of Gironde, France. The city of Bordeaux is 
the centre of this wine trade. The vineyard 
name of the district is the Bordelais. The name 

claret is taken from the French Clariet, which 

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EATING TO LIVE 

means a clarified wine, and, as before mentioned, 
is not used in France as a name for wine. The 
Bordeaux wines are mild, not very astringent, pure 
and fragrant, provided you get fairly good ones. 
There are among them high-class wines, fine wines, 
and ordinary wines. As a rule, a sea voyage im- 
proves them, while it deteriorates Burgundies. 
The high-grade clarets should always be warmed 
to the temperature of the room, in order to bring 
out their bouquet and flavor. They gain in 
bouquet by keeping in bottle, if properly corked. 

The Medoc wines, named from a province of 
the Bordeaux country, are among the best of 
clarets. The Chateau Margaux, the Chateau Laf- 
fitte and the Chateau Latour are rarely seen here 
in their true form, but good Medoc wines may 
be found. Medoc wines are natural wines, are not 
reinforced wines, and are therefore mild clarets. 
We do not know now what we get when we buy 
foreign clarets, as there is so much roguery at 
Bordeaux, and the remedy is to use those made in 
our own country, unless we get the better French 
wines from some favored source. Among the 
best of the red wines of Bordeaux is the Haut 
Brion. 

The Sauternes are white and are sweeter than 
the clarets, but have good flavor and pure aroma. 
The poor grades are sour. Barsac is among the 

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EATING TO LIVE 

best of them, if Barsac is Sauterne. A bottle of the 
renowned and famous Chateau Yquem would be a 
curiosity in America, or would have been some 
time since. The great fortunes accumulated in this 
country can now buy the best of the world's luxu- 
ries, and the high-priced luxuries will follow the 
accumulated money. Chateau la Tour Blanche is 
another famous brand. 

The best of the sweet wines are the Muscatelles, 
Malvoisie, and the Maccabeo. They are sweet, full 
of aroma, and full of vim. They go principally to 
Russia, where they doubtless turn to vinegar in the 
stomachs of the unfortunate subjects of the great 
Czar. 

The Rhine or German wines are usually of the 
lighter character, both white and red, but the white 
far predominate. They are low in alcohol, but 
yet keep well, as a rule. They have much free acid 
and tartar salts, and are considered allowable in 
persons who are afflicted with calcareous troubles. 
Hock wines are so named from the district of 
Hockheim, from whence they come, near the banks 
of the Main. Johannisberg is the prince of Rhine 
wines, and I have already spoken of it. If any one 
wishes the best, let him endeavor to get Johannis- 
berg. The Riesling grape is one of the great 
Rhine grapes, and we will see more about it when 
we come to speak of the California wines. It is 

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EATING TO LIVE 

most interesting to visit the Rhine region, the 
Rheingau, and to ponder and study the surround- 
ings, where the work of ages has been carried on 
with the grape as the chief factor. Steinberg is a 
brand next in flavor to Johannisberg, and in some 
seasons is better. That is really the case with all 
brands of wine. The grape of the brand makes 
good wine this year and poor wine next year. Ask 
a judge of wine about a brand, and he will first ask 
you to tell him the year of the vintage of the par- 
ticular specimen. If an expert he may even tell 
you by smelling and tasting it. The year makes a 
mighty difference. Other brands of Rhine wines 
are Rupertsberger, Deidsheimer, Diirkheimer, 
Liebfrauenmilch, the Fenerberger, Laubenheimer, 
Bodenheimer, Niersteiner, and many others. 

The Moselle wines are light in alcohol, have 
much fragrance, and an aromatic flavor, resembling 
elder-flower, which is said to be artificial. The 
Moselle wines make good sparkling wines. Spark- 
ling Moselle I have drunk frequently in the Rhine 
country, but it is not a very common wine here. 
Some German hocks are also fermented and made 
to sparkle ; in fact, a sparkling wine may be made 
of almost any still wine by the arts of the wine- 
maker. 

The Italian and Hungarian wines do not come to 
us in any quantity except when they come in wines 

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EATING TO LIVE 

from France for blending purposes. The wines of 
Italy, at least those from Northern Italy, are chiefly, 
as a rule, rough and badly made, the skins, stems, 
and seeds being macerated too long. Some of the 
Hungarian light wines are of fine flavor, have good 
aroma and smooth taste, and are growing in favor 
in the United States. The white Italian wines come 
from middle and Southern Italy, and Tuscany; as 
a rule, they are also rough and badly made. 

Champagne. — Professor S. D. Gross always 
spoke of champagne as a " drink for the gods," and 
it was his custom, when he came home weary and 
tired out from hard work, to open a pint bottle of 
Mumm's Extra Dry, and sit down and enjoy it. 
While champagne is undoubtedly a " drink for the 
gods," for the gouty individual or for the diabetic 
it is an invention of the devil. For the delicate or 
for the weary valetudinarian it is a generous and 
acceptable tonic, and as old age comes over us, pro- 
vided there is no contraindication, it is here that 
alcohol in some form is so acceptable, and cham- 
pagne becomes a remedy par excellence. Owing to 
the carbonic acid it contains, it is a rapid stimulant, 
and is rapidly and completely absorbed, and this 
quality makes it of great use in so many of the 
acute diseases where we need rapid action and 
where the digestive processes need just the spur- 
ring up that the carbonic acid and alcohol give. In 

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EATING TO LIVE 

acute croupous pneumonia confine me to one 
remedy, and I believe I would choose champagne. 

There are true champagnes, " Vin Brut," as the 
French call it, wine made without any artificial ad- 
ditions whatever, and fermented absolutely in the 
bottle. Then there are the ordinary champagnes, 
where the maker hurries up the acetous fermenta- 
tion, by which all of the sugar is quickly converted 
into alcohol. This is done by adding from 4 to 8 per 
cent, of sugar. Four per cent, makes the wine more 
rapidly, and it is ready to sell sooner, but if it is to 
be a dry wine, it is dry because of the acetic acid in 
it, and not because the sugar has gone to alcohol 
naturally. Here, then, is the distinction between 
" Vin Brut" and a sec or dry wine, or extra dry. 
We get probably little " Vin Brut" in the United 
States, but we get plenty of dry and extra dry. 
Good sec (dry) or extra dry (tres sec) can be 
bought for from twenty-five to thirty-six dollars per 
dozen in this country, while true Brut, if of a 
fashionable vintage, will sell for one hundred dol- 
lars per dozen, or more, and is usually imported by 
the consumer. 

The "Vin Brut" of Ruinart Pere et Fils, 
Rheims, France, is a good wine. It is a sound, 
decidedly dry wine. At the price it is sold for in 
the general trade I can scarcely see how it can be 
a true Brut wine. Brut wine is also offered by 

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EATING TO LIVE 

Moet et Chandon as Brut Imperial, together with 
their White Seal. Their Green Seal wine was for- 
merly popular. Piper-Hiedsieck also offer a Brut 
extra. The genuine Hiedsieck wines are among 
the best. Pommery and Greno Sec is another of 
the good brands, and so are the Veuve Cliquot. 
Many of these are sweet. The wines of the house 
of G. H. Mumm & Co. are usually good wines, and 
are especially well corked and well put up. 

The following are good brands, Louis Roederer, 
De St. Marceaux & Co., and Ayala & Co. 

The so-called vintage champagnes are usually 
high in price among dealers, say forty-five to fifty 
dollars per dozen. Among the good years are: 
1889, 1892, 1893, J ^95» 1898, and 1900 for French 
wines. 

After these wines come champagnes of many 
kinds and sorts, until you reach the vile stuff with 
sugar and any alcoholic mixture for a base, with 
carbon dioxide forced into it in soda-water style. 
I will not speak of our domestic champagnes until 
I come to speak of our domestic wines in general. 
Artificial champagnes, as a rule, besides being vile 
mixtures, are heady; that is to say, the carbonic 
acid goes rapidly to the head and produces an un- 
pleasant fullness, different from that produced by 
alcohol alone. 

God help the man who drinks too much at one 
time of the best champagne ! It is a sickening dose, 
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EATING TO LIVE 

but if the stuff is artificial, do not mention the 
great misery which overcomes him. 

Sparkling Moselle is a fairly good light wine, 
and if it can be obtained it can be recommended for 
the sick when such a wine is needed. 

The making of good champagne is a tedious and 
expensive process, and consists of vatting, curing, 
bottling, racking, disgorging, and handling. The 
bottles must be of the best, and even then 15 per 
cent, are broken in the process. I remember having 
seen men testing bottles by the eye and by the 
hands, in the famous cellars of Moet et Chandon, 
fipernay, France. The only wonder to me was, they 
did not all fly to pieces in the mere testing. The 
slightest bubble in the glass condemned the bottle. 
All champagne bottles are made in clay moulds, 
and have no mould-marks on them. These bottles 
must stand a pressure of one hundred pounds to the 
square inch, thus reaching near the point of an 
explosive, although not a high one. This is in the 
first fermentation. The bottles must really stand a 
pressure of twenty atmospheres, or three hundred 
pounds to the square inch. 

Champagne is a blended wine. The Cuvee, liter- 
ally a vat, is the mixture or blend of the wine 
from which the champagne is to be made. The 
cuvee is the most important part of the work of 
making champagne, and requires great experience 

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EATING TO LIVE 

and tact. It is necessary to ascertain the exact pro- 
portion of alcohol, sugar, and acid, or the mousse or 
sparkle will be too violent, on not violent enough. 
The blend of the wine gives the color, lightness, its 
sweetness or dryness, and the strength, in a great 
measure. 

Now the corking is done by machinery, and it is 
an interesting process. Formerly, string and wire 
both were used to hold the corks; now much wine 
is tied by wire alone. After the bottles have been 
filled, they are tied with one string, and are then 
kept at a temperature of about 8o° F. for several 
months. During this time the albumin and natural 
sediment of the wine go to the lower side, the 
bottles having been kept on their sides. At the 
end of several months the carbon dioxide has 
formed, and probably 10 per cent, of the bottles 
have exploded, yet the wine is not always lost, but 
is caught in gutters and used sooner or later. 

After fermentation has gone on for months the 
bottles are put in racks and turned every day for 
several months. This brings the sediment down 
to the neck, the racks holding the bottles cork down. 
After this the bottles are stood perpendicularly on 
their corks. All champagne bottles have their bot- 
toms pushed up into a cone, as is well known. This 
is not, as is generally supposed, to reduce the con- 
tents in quantity, but is necessary for the strength 

307 



EATING TO LIVE 

of the bottle. After fermentation has been com- 
pleted the sediment must be gotten rid of, techni- 
cally called disgorgement. A man does this very 
expertly, and loses very little of the wine. He 
wears a wire mask, as do all who enter the cham- 
pagne vaults during the cure of the wine. If the 
wine is to be helped, and is not absolutely natural, 
or brut, as soon as the disgorger has finished, 
another man puts in the proper amount of syrup, 
and thus arranges for the dryness or sweetness of 
the wine. The syrup is cold process syrup only, 
made with grape sugar, and may have some flavor- 
ing added, but this is really not proper. If too 
much wine has been lost in disgorging, more is 
added, and the waste goes off into some by-product, 
as vinegar. Nothing is wasted. After the wine has 
been corked and wired it is put away for probably 
a year in the cellars, and is then ready for labelling 
and packing. 

I think there is a difference of opinion as to the 
improvement or non-improvement of champagne 
by age. If it can be kept absolutely quiet and air- 
tight, and with a proper environment, it may im- 
prove by age, certainly, at least, until all of the 
sugar has been converted into alcohol, the wine then 
becoming as dry as it can ever be. The life of the 
cork must measure the life of the wine, and this is 
probably not over five or six years on an average. 

308 



EATING TO LIVE 

France makes most of the champagne for the 
world, and the true champagne district cannot sup- 
ply grapes sufficient for one-tenth, probably, of 
what France exports. Fortunately, there are other 
places which furnish grapes for good champagne, 
and this wine is utilized. 

Champagne is supposed to have been invented by 
monks, and resulted from the bottling of new wine 
and its exploding the bottles while undergoing fer- 
mentation. The true champagne country of France 
is the department of the Marne, east of Paris, and 
which one passes through in travelling from Paris 
to Strasbourg, on the way going through fipernay, 
Rheims, and Nancy. The German army went by 
this route on their way to Paris after Sedan. The 
surface soil is shallow, the subsoil calcareous and 
chalky. The subsoil analysis is, carbonate of lime, 
80; carbonate of magnesia, 2 ; silica, 18. Surface 
soil analysis: Alkaline salts, .985; carbonate of 
lime, 28.862; magnesia, 1.401; oxide of iron, 
4-545 5 phosphoric acid, .147; alumina, .849; 
soluble silica, .095; organic matter, 3.750; insolu- 
ble residue, 59.366. 

Dealers in wines will tell you that brands of wine, 
especially of champagne, like brands of cigars, are 
likely to deteriorate after the brand has been well 
established, and recommend the newer brands as 
often the best. This may be the case, but I think 

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EATING TO LIVE 

the character of wines is most frequently deter- 
mined by the year of the vintage, as the grapes 
differ so much in different years, one year making 
good wine, and another year making very inferior 
wine. 

American Wines. — Within fifty years wine- 
making has become quite an industry in the United 
States, and so to-day California, Missouri, New 
Jersey, Ohio, and Virginia furnish a great deal 
of very good wine, especially wines of the lighter 
kinds. These wines are doubtless purer, and often 
better, than the foreign wines, for they are so cheap 
that it does not pay to take the trouble or expense 
either to change them or to counterfeit them. In 
1894 the producer, for his lighter wines in Cali- 
fornia, could barely command six cents per gallon 
in his vaults, scarcely the price of good cider as 
we find it in the general market. California is our 
great wine-producing State. In 1898 she exported 
fifteen millions of gallons of wine, and there the 
business is still in its infancy. Probably to-day 
these figures are doubled, or more than doubled. 
In the future California is destined to rival all the 
great wine-producing countries of the world. 

When we ferment the grape, the sugar of the 
grapes is transformed, on an average, into alcohol, 
48.4 per cent. ; carbon dioxide, 46.6 per cent. ; 
glycerin, 3.3 per cent. The malic acid is converted 

310 



EATING TO LIVE 

into succinic acid, .5 per cent., and the yeast in- 
gredients 1.2 per cent., making in all 100 per cent. 
The germs come from the atmosphere, where they 
exist always in the lower strata. On tops of moun- 
tains, perhaps, natural fermentation would not 
start, owing to the absence of yeast germs, but here 
we could start it by adding old must or yeast. 
Natural fermentation is best. Here is an important 
point : If the fermentative germs do not exist on 
mountain-tops, it is reasonable to suppose patho- 
genic germs do not exist there. Indeed I have my 
doubts if tubercle bacilli exist and thrive above five 
thousand feet above sea-level. The same may be 
the case on the high seas, in deep canons, and such 
places. 

In California wines mature much more rapidly 
than they do in Europe. In the future, we may 
expect wines from the Pacific Coast of a high char- 
acter, especially of the Medoc type, and Burgun- 
dies, true Sauternes, and those of the Cognac type. 
I have never yet seen a real good sherry among 
them ; there is too much sugar in their sherries, and 
the same may be said of those of the Madeira type. 
Some of the port wines are fair, and are particu- 
larly to be recommended for medicinal use. Cali- 
fornia sherries and ports are usually sold in the 
shops, not by any particular name, but by the year 
of the vintage, which really means nothing, as 

311 



EATING TO LIVE 

choice old port 1885, pure port 1880, and so on; 
and the same with the sherries and those of the 
Madeira class. 

The California hocks, Rhine wines, and Sau- 
ternes, as we find them in the trade, take the names 
of the true hocks, Rhine wines, and Sauternes, as 
Haut Sauterne, Choice Old Liebfrau Milch, Rudes- 
heimer, and such. Of these wines I like the true 
California Rieslings the best. The sweet wines of 
California are sold as Choice Old Muscatel, Choice 
Angelica, and such, and are among the best of these 
wines obtainable, if they come from a good source. 

California Burgundy we find in our markets as 
Burgundy 1885, Burgundy 1880, and so on. The 
clarets come under a number of names. The Zin- 
fandels to my mind, are much the better. The 
Zinfandel grape has a peculiar flavor of its own, 
which pervades the claret and grows on one rapidly. 
Of course, to get the best results in flavor, etc., the 
wine is blended with the red and white Zinfandel 
and other wines, Zinfandel predominating largely, 
until the desired result is obtained. These Califor- 
nia clarets are stronger in every way than the for- 
eign clarets, and approach near to the Burgundies, 
and need water added to them when used as ordi- 
nary table-wine. 

The Cabernet Sauvignon makes a high-class 
Bordeaux wine alone, and the Burgundy Pinot 

312 



EATING TO LIVE 

grape does the same, but these are among the 
few on the Pacific coast that do not need blending. 
We find in the shops clarets under the names of 
Medoc, Cabernet, St. Julien, Larose, Pontet Canet, 
Santa Monica, and others. 

The Zinfandel grape has been very extensively 
planted in California; it is hardy and flourishes 
everywhere, and for this reason, among others, it 
is the greatest claret grape, and properly blended, 
as Zinfandels, we get the best of the California 
clarets, although the Medoc class might possibly 
be better could we get them from first hands. The 
Zinfandel has a bouquet of its own, is of light 
astringency, and has a light color. 

There is no manner of doubt, as we purchase 
medium-priced clarets in the general market, that 
the California and other American clarets are far 
better than the adulterated stuff we usually get 
from abroad. I do not hesitate to advise their use 
generally. Some very good clarets are made in 
New Jersey, near the coast, and among the best of 
American clarets I have ever tasted are those made 
in Virginia, near Charlottesville. Should we need 
a sweet wine the Virginia Scuppernong wines are 
worth testing. 

Of the Hock varieties of California, I prefer 
the Rieslings. The Riesling is the noble grape, 
par excellence of the Rhine, and predominates in 

313 



EATING TO LIVE 

the famous Johannisberg vineyard. I believe a 
true Johannisberger will be made in California 
much better than we can buy of European origin in 
our market, if you can buy any at all. If you 
wish one of the best wines of the Rhine wine type 
to-day, buy the California Riesling in preference 
to the average foreign wine. This brings us 
through the list of American light wines and other 
wines, except the sparkling wines, champagne, the 
true " vin de luxe." 

Let me add here, that Californians accuse the 
dealers who buy their wines of shipping them in 
bulk to Europe and bringing them back here with 
European, high-sounding labels on them, and sell- 
ing them to us as genuine European wines. The 
way to stop this is to drink our own wines, as we 
should do, whenever possible. As to American 
champagne, I cannot say much for it. After look- 
ing into the matter quite thoroughly, I have come 
to the conclusion that there is very little true 
champagne, — that is, champagne fermented in the 
bottle — made in America. We have plenty of soda- 
water champagne, and some of this is quite pleas- 
ant, and serves a good part in taking the place of 
the more expensive European wines. 

It is easy to make artificial champagne from the 
natural dry wines. An Italian, Carpene by name, 
has invented a simple and cheap apparatus. The 

314 



EATING TO LIVE 

result of Carpene's apparatus is a fairly good 
sparkling wine, at a very moderate cost. 

Nicholas Longworth, of Cincinnati, years ago 
made a sparkling Catawba, which was probably 
fermented in the bottle. Arpad Haraszthy some 
years ago made a good champagne in California, 
which he called the " Dry Eclipse." I believe this 
wine was fermented in the bottle. Haraszthy's 
" Eclipse Champagne" is yet on the market, but 
I think he is probably dead some time since. It is 
yet one of the best of our domestic sparkling wines, 
but whether it is bottle-fermented now or not I do 
not know. " Golden Age" is one of the better 
domestic brands, and so is Urbana and the Great 
Western of the Pleasant Valley Wine Company. 
Cook's Imperial Extra Dry is a fruity wine, and 
pleasant. 

As a rule, our domestic champagnes lack body 
and are too sweet. They sell by the case at from 
twelve to fifteen dollars per dozen for quarts, and 
for pints they cost a trifle more. No good, reliable 
house can sell at a profit a domestic champagne fit 
for one to drink much below these prices. The 
stuffs in the market under these prices are slops 
and worse than slops. 

American brandies are chiefly made in Califor- 
nia. They are, as a rule, cheaper and much better 
than the ordinary French brandies. The market 

315 



EATING TO LIVE 

needs a good natural brand)', without artificial 
flavoring or coloring, distilled from good, pure 
wine and offered to invalids and those needing a 
good, pure liquor. The avarice and competition 
rampant in trade appear to make such a product 
almost impossible. Unfermented grape- juices are 
now much used by soda-water men and temperance 
people, so called. 

Grape- juice, fresh, may be very nice and quite 
palatable. To prepare it, it is boiled more or less, 
and bottled and sealed. Much of it, to keep it, 
has some antiferment added, and this is done par- 
ticularly when it is retailed in small quantities; 
and under these conditions it is unwholesome, and 
adds another turn to the screws that Satan will 
give the soda-water men when he gets hold of them 
for all the vile stuffs they have cunningly devised 
for credulous humanity. Adulterated wines and 
spirits of various flavors are used and wholesale 
adulteration is carried on, and no law appears to 
check it. You can buy any wine, brandy, or 
whiskey in a general market, or receipts for making 
them, and no genuine juice of the grape or grains 
will in any way enter into their composition. 
Such concoctions are called " rot guts," but they do 
not appear to kill more rapidly than the better and 
truer stuffs. Those who take them are generally 
the poor among the dissipated, who have not the 

316 



EATING TO LIVE 

means to over-eat and over-drink which those have 
who are more prosperous financially. The drunk- 
ard with unlimited means often goes sooner and 
more rapidly than the tramp and " bum" with 
no means whatever. As adulterants, ginger and 
peppers are used, Cocculus Indicus, quassia, aro- 
matic seeds, wormwood, ammonia, nux vomica, 
gentian, juniper, chamomile flowers, almonds, 
orange-peel, licorice, honey and other sweets, and 
astringents. 

In wines there is great roguery. According to 
Thompson, a fair imitation of Chateau Latour can 
be made with almonds and other nuts, and a Cha- 
teau Lafitte, with violets and nuts; and to other 
grades cherry- juice is added. Artificial pigments, 
alum, tannin, fusel-oils, cider, pear- juice, and lime 
salts are often added to wines. Logwood is fre- 
quently added to make clarets and Burgundies. It 
is the fusel-oil in liquors that usually causes head- 
ache, foul mouth, and dyspeptic symptoms follow- 
ing their use ; and if carried on too long, the hob- 
nail liver comes with all its succeeding horrors. 
There is no longer taste for even Chambertin or 
Chateau Yquem. 

Wines are made from almost any fruit or vege- 
table containing sugar, — as from rhubarb, the to- 
mato, the fig, the strawberry, the blackberry, the 
raspberry, and the currant. That made from the 

317 



EATING TO LIVE 

latter is among the best. If such an excess of 
sugar were not usually added, these wines might 
be useful in sickness. As usually seen, they are a 
sorry dose for sick or well. 

Cider and perry — the first from the juice of the 
apple and the other from that of the pear — are 
common drinks. They contain a small amount of 
alcohol, malic acid, some extractives, sugar when 
new, and some salts. When first fermented they 
are very palatable, but soon get sour and go to 
vinegar. Cider in France is used as a gout cure. 
For the life of me, I cannot see why or how it 
can add to the alkalinity of the blood, except by 
forming salts in the system with the bases it meets, 
and even then not enough to have any practical 
effect. I have known one or two gentlemen who 
lived in France to declare it did them great good. 
Those who want cider had better drink fresh cider. 
All bottled cider, as a rule, is cider in which fer- 
mentation has been limited by the addition of anti- 
ferments, and is neither palatable nor proper to 
drink. Any one who wishes to try it for gout had 
better buy a small press, extract the juice and 
ferment it as he needs it. Then it will always be 
in prime condition. As a rule you cannot depend 
on bought cider as being " brut." 

It is wonderful the number of articles made from 
the wine residues, and many of them are of every- 

318 



EATING TO LIVE 

day use. Those products that furnish the greater 
number of articles are the pomace, the lees, and 
the tartar. Tartaric acid is obtained from the 
pomace by a complex process. Spirit is made from 
the pomace by distilling it. Frankfort black is 
made from the pomace. Oil and tannin are ex- 
tracted from the seeds, and vinegar is made from 
the pomace ; but true wine vinegar — the best vine- 
gar — is made from true wine gone on to the 
acetous fermentation. (Enocynin, a coloring mat- 
ter, is made from the skins of the grape, and is 
much used in wine-making for coloring purposes. 
Verdigris is made from the pomace and copper. 
Grape pomace is also used for food for stock and 
for fertilizing purposes, I suppose from the salts 
of potash, nitrogen, and phosphoric acid formed 
in it. The lees contains alcohol and tartrates, and 
is valuable as to the quantities of these contained. 
The common raw tartar, or argol, is a very 
valuable by-product of the grape, and is precipi- 
tated on the lower side of the barrels. This tartar 
salt is usually in composition as potash or lime 
salt. There are two kinds of raw tartar, the white 
and the red. Raw tartar is a great commercial 
product, and it is therefore, like many other 
articles, much adulterated, sand being used, and 
also steam boiler crusts. Tartaric acid is made 
from the raw tartar by an interesting process. It 

319 



EATING TO LIVE 

is first changed to calcium tartrate, then by sul- 
phuric acid all the tartrate of lime is made into 
sulphate of lime and tartaric acid, the calcium 
sulphate precipitating. The tartaric acid is then 
crystallized out. Tartar emetic is a double tar- 
trate of potash and antimony. The acid tartrate 
of potash, cream of tartar, a bitartrate, is a very 
important by-product from the grape. The neutral 
tartrate of potash is a well-known substance. 

There is another salt, a very valuable one, and 
one deservedly used in medicine, the double tar- 
trate of soda and potash, called the Rochelle salt. 
This has a mild, not unpleasant, salty taste, and 
we all should know that it is one of the good things 
coming from the grape as a by-product in the art 
of wine-making. 

England collects as taxes from spirits, wines and 
malt liquors, $449,820,000 per year. The United 
States collects $444,116,123. The French govern- 
ment at large only collects from these sources $102,- 
400,000 per year, but there are other taxes by cities 
and towns, just as we have in the United States, 
and are not included in the general government 
tax. Germany only collects directly $57,969,040. 

The average German at home or abroad rebels 
when you tax his beer, for it is the mainspring of 
his pleasure, not only of his palate, but of his whole 
social life. 

320 



EATING TO LIVE 

The old lady said to her son, who had left his 
American home to reside temporarily in Germany, 
" Henry, I hope you go to church on Sundays." 
" Yes, mother," said Henry. " Henry," said the 
good mother, " I trust you visit the parson now 
and again at his home." " That is not necessary, 
mother. I always meet and chat with him at the 
beer-garden on Sunday after service." 

I think there is one thing we may truthfully 
say: The consumption of spirits as a beverage is 
gradually declining in this country, and that 
mania a potu is more and more becoming a rare 
disease. Such is my individual experience, and it 
has been and still is considerable, having been con- 
nected during much of my professional life with 
various eleemosynary and criminal institutions 
where such cases abound, and I have seen it in 
men and women of all colors and nationalities. 
The increased consumption of beer and wines ac- 
counts for much of the decrease of the consump- 
tion of spirits, and it looks to me as though the 
coming man would gradually cease to use spirits 
as a beverage, a condition greatly to be wished for 
truly. I think man begins to realize the fact that 
the consumption of spirits as a beverage is the 
greatest bane to his health and happiness. Instinct 
tells him this, just as instinct teaches the lower 
animals to avoid certain plants as poisonous. 
21 321 



EATING TO LIVE 

The ancients invented spirits (probably the Ara- 
bians), and I mean by spirits the brandies, whis- 
kies, rums, gins, and such, not the much less 
harmful malt liquors nor the mirth-provoking mel- 
low wine. The ancients used these spirits as medi- 
cine alone. May we who live after them and may 
those who live after us gradually come to use them 
in no other way; and as medicine may we of the 
medical profession learn to guide and guard their 
use. 

I add here an important table taken from an 
article in the University Medical Magazine for 
October, 1898, by Dr. B. Franklin Stahl. The 
table is by Roberts, and shows the retarding effects 
of wines and spirits on digestion, both peptic and 
salivary. Let me first quote from Stahl's con- 
clusions, using his quotations from Chambers, 
Osier, and others. 

" Wines and beers, a glass or two taken with a 
meal, will help gastric digestion. When con- 
sumed in quantities, as not infrequently used, a 
pint of claret or a large amount of beer, they retard 
digestion more or less. As to time of administra- 
tion, they should be given with food, or a part in 
certain instances taken just before food. Osier 
says the man who drinks before noon is lost. As 
a beverage, I say, a man should postpone his 
libations until the dinner hour. Chambers says the 

322 



EATING TO LIVE 

laborer, whose limbs are stiff with his day's toil, 
and the brain-worker, who still more acutely feels 
the wear and tear of bread-winning, are not wast- 
ing the money they earn with which they buy a fair 
ration of beer or wine for their evening meal. The 
malt liquors are indicated as fattening agents, to 
stimulate digestion, and as mild tonics and stimu- 
lants. The spirituous liquors are required in acute 
illness, and are beneficial in old age. The wines 
are most useful in convalescence and in those cases 
where we are unable to give the stronger liquors, 
because of their unacceptability to the stomach. 
Furthermore, they have a fixed place in our di- 
etetics. They are to be avoided in atheromatous 
conditions of the blood-vessels, and particularly in 
angina pectoris, from the free salts they contain, 
and this is why spirits are the drink of old age 
when the blood-vessels have deteriorated. Finally, 
considering some special conditions where selec- 
tion must be made, it may be said that in anaemia, 
in conditions included under the term malnutrition, 
and in convalescence, you will do well to order 
a good claret, Burgundy, or Sauterne. The 
lighter wines of good quality are best for daily 
consumption for brain-workers who lead seden- 
tary lives, and who need a digestive stimulant. 
You will hasten recovery in many by ordering a 
light luncheon, accompanied with wine, between 

323 



EATING TO LIVE 

meals. Gout is regarded by many as the child of 
port wine. Next in order as causative of gout 
comes champagne, especially the sweet wines. A 
gouty person should drink only the dryest of the 
dry champagnes. Then come sherry, Madeira, 
Burgundy, and malt liquors. Cider is almost as 
potent in its causation of gout as are the wines. 
Some differ from this assertion, as I have ex- 
plained. Claret is almost the only safe wine in 
gout. I will say that water is safer and better than 
any of the alcoholics. In diarrhoea and dysentery 
you will find brandy of service, especially in the 
old. Claret, if sound, is also of value here; in 
Germany and France it is frequently used to the 
exclusion of water. Very little water the French 
and Germans drink, anyhow. In diabetes, claret is 
safest, but Burgundy, hock, or dry sherry, and 
some whiskey, will be found to agree. I would 
say, drop the sherry of all kinds, and confine the 
whiskey to those specimens not colored with cara- 
mel. In fever, if self-limiting and of moderate 
severity, alcoholic stimulants are not indicated until 
convalescence has been established, when they may 
be given with advantage. You may regard it as 
an indication for alcohol when the fever is very 
high from the outset, and the heart appears em- 
barrassed, as shown by a weak or absent second 
sound. Chronic alcoholism, in nearly all instances, 

324 



EATING TO LIVE 

may be successfully treated without liquor. When 
it is required, it should be given in large doses. In 
liver disease alcohol is usually contraindicated. If 
demanded, claret or brandy, well diluted with aer- 
ated water, should be chosen. Insomnia is often 
relieved by mulled wine or by whiskey and hot 
water. Beer is also of service in this connection. 
I need hardly say there is danger of the formation 
of the habit under these circumstances, nor need 
I remind you that whiskey is best for the old. In 
consumption, if any liquors are used, the malt 
liquors are of service early, and spirituous liquors 
later in the disease. Remember that here, more 
than in almost any other disease, the digestion is 
of the greatest importance, and you will be gov- 
erned entirely by the effect produced on the 
digestion." 

The author will add here that the latest experi- 
ence in the use of alcoholic drinks among consump- 
tives condemns them as retarding digestion and 
doing in a great majority of cases more harm than 
good. 

In chronic rheumatism and renal disease they 
may only be given when the demand is greater than 
the contraindication, and all the while the effect 
must be noted. Well-diluted spirits are best here. 
In scurvy malt liquors are especially serviceable, 
yet some do better on claret or spirits and water. 

325 



EATING TO LIVE 



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326 



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Table showing the effect of sherry and hock upon salivary 
digestion. {Roberts.) 

Time normally required equals four minutes. 



Proportion of sherry or 

hock contained in the 

digesting material. 




0.25 per cent 

0.5 percent 

1. percent 

2. per cent 

40. per cent., neu 

tralized 



8 minutes. 

30 minutes. 

No action beyond 

soluble starch. 

No action. 

4 minutes. 



Hock. 



16 minutes. 

80 minutes. 

No action beyond 

soluble starch. 

No action. 

4 minutes. 



Table showing the effect of alcohol, brandy, and whiskey on 
salivary digestion. ( Roberts. ) 
Time normally required, four minutes. 



Proportion of proof spirit, 
brandy, or whiskey in the 
digesting mixture. 


Proof spirit. 


French brandy. 


Scotch 
whiskey. 


5 per cent 


4 minutes. 
4 minutes. 

4 minutes. 

8 minutes. 

14 minutes. 

20 minutes. 

Very slow 

action. 


4 minutes. 
Very slow 

action. 
No action. 

No action. 
No action. 
No action. 
No action. 


4 minutes. 
30 minutes. 

Very slow 

action. 
No action. 


10 per cent 


20 per cent 

40 per cent 


60 per cent 


No action. 


70 per cent 


No action. 


90 per cent 


No action. 







Now, while certain suggestions can be made quite 
positively and on well-founded reasons, there must 
remain many instances where the individual judg- 
ment must come into play. Whenever we pre- 
scribe an alcoholic either to a man or to a woman, 

327 



EATING TO LIVE 

whether to the young or to the old, remember well 
and ponder well on the terrible weapon we are 
using both for good and evil. It must not be used 
or advised in a reckless or thoughtless manner, and 
for the young and susceptible its use must be 
guarded on all sides. 

As to Serving Wines. 

First, no one should drink more than one wine at 
dinner, for two reasons : First, sooner or later, if 
we guzzle quantities of the various wines as a 
daily or even frequent custom, the health of the 
offender will suffer in the end. The cocktail before 
dinner is an abomination. " Natural hunger is the 
best sauce." If you have not natural hunger, do 
as the lower animal does, do not eat. If cham- 
pagne is to be the wine, you will enjoy it with the 
meats and it is sufficient. The old custom of a 
wine for each course, ending with a cordial and a 
demi-tasse, is a fool-killer. If the host wishes you 
to sample a stock Madeira or a sherry, you may 
safely do so by taking a thimbleful towards the 
close of the feast, and the same may be said of a 
cordial or a cognac. 

I am glad to say society is becoming more ra- 
tional as to wine at meals. At many dinners now, 
at most, a claret or a Burgundy is served, or cham- 
pagne, and it very dry, alone. With the American 

328 



EATING TO LIVE 

or English breakfast any wine is out of place. 
Think of a Burgundy with coffee and milk and 
buckwheat cakes and sausages. The thought is 
nauseating, not appetizing. The Frenchman with 
his dejeuner a la fourchette wants his Bordeaux. 
This is more in accord with things, for the dejeuner 
a la fourchette is almost a mid-day dinner served 
in course. 

If you wish a wine for each course you would 
take them as follows and be En regie. With the 
hors d'CEuvres, or Kickshaws, you would serve a 
white Burgundy, say Chablis, or a Sauterne. With 
the soup you would offer sherry or a Marsala. 
With fish, Hock or Sauterne would be proper. 
Claret or Burgundy go well with entrees. With the 
roast serve champagne by all means. When the 
dessert comes, port, claret, or Madeira, and after 
these cordials and cognac. 

An important matter in serving wine is the 
temperature at which it is at its best. About the 
proper temperatures as the wine is being poured 
are as follows: Sherry and Marsala, 40 F. ; 
Sauterne, the Rhine wines, and the Moselles, 50 ° 
F. ; claret, 65 ° F., — about the temperature of the 
room in which it is served. Burgundy may be as 
high as 70 F. The White Burgundies, 45 ° F. 
As a rule, chill thoroughly all white wines before 
serving them. Champagne, 30 ° to 35 ° F. ; port 

329 



EATING TO LIVE 

about 60 ° F., or anywhere about the temperature 
of the apartment, and so with Madeira. Probably 
55 to 6o° F. is proper to bring out the bouquet 
in Madeira. 

If you wish to serve old wines from bottle, you 
will usually find a sediment at the bottom. This 
is the result of age, and you do not want this 
sediment in your glass, — it will affect the flavor 
of the wine injuriously. Do not shake the bottle; 
care for it as a sick baby ; do not strain or filter it ; 
pour it gently, and the last glass will be all that the 
sediment has hurt. Connoisseurs as a rule, such as 
the late Ward McAllister and Samuel Ward, when 
possible, recommend that these rare old stock 
wines be kept in the room in which they are to be 
drunk, resting quietly for a week, before the 
dinner. 

Some have and use a decanting basket. Do not. 
The Old Boy gets much fun out of the fuss he 
makes in decanting his wine by hand. Do not. 
Give him a good " run for his money." 

Now, as to the use of ice. We in America use 
too much ice in our wines, as a rule. We cannot 
compare ourselves with the English, who know not 
the luxury of ice, for our climate differs radically 
from theirs. The ordinary way of drinking cham- 
pagne among us is to put broken ice in the glass 
with the wine. This does not ruin the wine, for 

330 



EATING TO LIVE 

it is difficult to ruin good champagne, but it surely 
blunts its flavor and lessens its sparkle. This 
method comes of necessity often, for wine is or- 
dered on the spur of the moment and no time is to 
spare for cooling. If one has his butler, this can 
be easily arranged, or even at some of our best 
restaurants cooled wine is kept ready. The other 
fellow has to put ice in the wine. Then, with 
champagne, as a rule, always lower the temperature 
in the bottle and not in the glass. If you wish 
frappe, it takes some time. A good method is to 
lay the bottle in a basin, break up the ice, and put 
it on the bottle, and cover the whole with a wet 
flannel, and set in a draft of air. This method will 
take one hour. The Rhine wines and Sauternes 
we cool, to bring out their bouquet and freshen 
their flavor. To prepare claret and Burgundy for 
dinner we set the bottle in hot water or before the 
fire until warm, say yo° F. Thus treated the wine 
has more body and less astringency. Port, sherry, 
Madeira, and Marsala are fortified wines and give 
up their many good points only when drunk not 
very cold. If chilled, they lose in both body and 
flavor. Cold port is " pudding without sauce," and 
the same may be said of sherry and Madeira. 

Daily Ration in Health. 

Before I enter upon the subject of diet in gout 

331 



EATING TO LIVE 



let me give the average daily ration of a healthy 
man weighing one hundred and fifty-four pounds 
and five feet eight inches in height. The calcula- 
tions are based on Church in his work on " Food." 
In a healthy adult the amount of food required 
may vary with circumstances. There may be pecu- 
liarities of the individual, and the amount of work 
he performs varies. Heat or cold causes varia- 
tions, also the condition and quality of the food. 
What we want to arrive at is the average. Church 
gives this table as what the daily average should be : 



Nutrients. 



Water 

Albuminoids 

Starch, sugar, etc 

Fat 

Common salt 

Phosphates, potash salts, etc 



In ioo parts. 



81.5 

3-9 
10.6 

3-o 

0.7 

o.3 



Each 24 hours. 



Lbs. 

5 
o 
o 
o 
o 
o 



Ozs. 
8 

4 
11 

3 
o 
o 



Grains. 
320 
IIO 
178 

337 
325 
170 



Here the total daily ration weighs six pounds, 
thirteen ounces, one hundred and twenty-eight 
grains. Five and one-half pounds of this is water. 
All of the solid matter here does not have high 
food value, as the gelatin, animal membrane, etc., 
in meats, and the fibrous materials in vegetables, 
but the average is nearly correct. Food must taste 
well and be palatable to excite the digestive secre- 
tions, etc. To accomplish this the diet must be 

332 



EATING TO LIVE 

varied. As Church says, to get a complete ration 
from bread this man of one hundred and fifty-four 
pounds weight would have to eat four pounds to 
get a proper supply of albuminoids or flesh- formers 
and a proper amount of carbohydrates, the heat- 
givers or force-producers. Thus we see we must 
vary the diet to get proper results from food. 
Church gives what he considers a proper mixed 
diet containing the following for one day for this 
healthy man of one hundred and fifty-four pounds. 



Ounces. 

i. Bread 18 

2. Butter i 

3. Milk 4 

4. Bacon 2 

5. Potatoes 8 

6. Cabbage 6 

7. Cheese 3%, 

8. Sugar 1 

9. Salt % 

10. Water alone, in tea, coffee, etc. 66 % 



Altogether this 
will contain about 
one pound, five 
and three-quarter 
ounces of dry sub- 
stances, though 
they weigh alto- 
gether six pounds, 
fourteen and one- 
half ounces. 



In this ration, from the bread we get starch, 
which gives heat and force, and some albuminoids 
in the gluten, etc., which gives flesh-formers. The 
milk gives fat, albuminoids, and sugar, in itself a 
complete food so far as it goes. The cheese gives 
fat and nitrogen. The bacon and butter chiefly 
fat. From the remainder we get enough to make 
the complete ration, including the necessary salts 
and the water to the amount of five pounds eight 

333 



EATING TO LIVE 

and three-quarters ounces made up from what is in 
the food and what we drink as water and in our 
tea, coffee, etc. We may increase or diminish the 
water and thus get along. We may decrease the 
albuminoids and take more fats, or take less fats 
and increase the albuminoids. In Church's calcu- 
lations he gives the nutrient ratio as 1:4^. That 
is, for one ounce of albuminoids present in the 
daily ration, there should be present four and three- 
quarters ounces of starch, sugar, dextrin, gum, 
mucilage, etc., the starch equivalent of the fat one 
eats being added to make up the proper quantity. 

Diet in Gout. 
In a work of this kind we will only refer to 
gout and to uric acid, etc., of which we hear so 
much both from professional persons and laymen, 
in relation to the diet in such conditions. At the 
same time, in order to do this intelligently, we must 
look somewhat into the etiology and pathology of 
the condition. It makes no difference to the quack 
what his nostrum is taken for, so he gets money 
return, and so the uric acid trick has been very 
faithfully worked, so much so, that from news- 
paper and magazine advertisements the masses 
have become very familiar with the term, and 
we hear the so-called uric acid condition discussed 
on all sides. Among medical men we see a some- 

334 



EATING TO LIVE 

what similar though probably an honest state of 
affairs. So many ailments are referred to as gouty, 
the result of uric acid in the system. We have the 
gouty throat, the gouty eye, the gouty heart, and 
so on. Even the average physician is satisfied in 
his own mind to refer the cause to uric acid and 
prescribe a fashionable remedy of a fashionable 
doctor. So far as remedies are concerned, not one 
of the remedies in popular use can be proved to be 
on any scientific ground an effectual antidote to the 
so-called poison in the system, the uric acid. Prob- 
ably of this series of remedies colchicum has the 
best foundation for its use from its now well-known 
action on the liver and its secretions. Most of our 
knowledge is empirical. In acute gout, if we give 
colchicum we think the trouble sooner abates, so 
when we give the salicylates, so when we give some 
vaunted formula we are not surely familiar with. 
Semi-starvation, plenty of water and opiates, and 
other remedies for the pain appear also to be effec- 
tual. Reason as we may, our treatment is empirical 
rather than scientific. I admit, we are making 
some progress, but we are yet attempting to fly 
with one wing broken. 

Is uric acid the cause of gout ? Well, it may be 
and it may not be the cause. So far as we now 
know it possibly may be, or what we are accus- 
tomed to call uric acid may be. What is uric acid ? 

335 



EATING TO LIVE 

Here is the important question. Before answering 
this question we must take up a new, or compara- 
tively new, series of bodies which physiological 
chemistry is now studying and attempting to eluci- 
date. I refer to the 

Purin Bodies. 

E. Fischer has applied the name purin to a nu- 
cleus C 5 N 4 , and hence all bodies so constructed may 
be called purins. Fisher reproduced his so-called 
purin nucleus by synthesis. Hall gives a list of 
ordinary occurring purin bodies as follows : Hy- 
poxanthin, xanthin, uric acid, guanin, adenin, caf* 
fein, and theobromin. The purin bodies exist free 
or as nucleic acid combined with albumin. As 
with uric acid, we have two forms of purins, the 
endogenous, those, formed within the body from 
the breaking down of its own tissue cells and in- 
dependent of the food taken, and the exogenous, 
those coming from without with the food taken. 
The endogenous are the more numerous, and, un- 
fortunately, cannot be controlled by diet to the 
same extent as can the exogenous. Here we 
have the reason why starvation or semi-starva- 
tion, more properly, will not cure gout. Abstain- 
ing from eating will in a great measure control 
the exogenous uric acid, leaving the endogen- 
ous uric acid from the breaking down of our 

336 



EATING TO LIVE 

tissues still in our system to vex and debilitate us. 

Now we are in a better position to take up uric 
acid. Since its discovery, one hundred and thirty 
years ago, this has been given as the cause of gout. 
Uric acid itself in the system is not toxic, is not 
poisonous, yet some of its forerunners may be. If 
we find an excess of uric acid in the urine we argue 
oxidation of its forerunners as the cause and excess 
of uric acid as the effect, and the relief more or 
less of the gouty attack the result. This is what we 
want to bring about if we are on the right track. 
So far as we now know uric acid is formed in the 
body by the oxidation of the purins, both the endo- 
genous and the exogenous. As we have seen, the 
nucleic acid produces these. 

Uric acid may be an antecedent of urea or may 
come from urea synthetically. Now, suppose we 
eat a diet rich with nuclein and its products, we 
get an excess of uric acid; but even if we eat a 
highly nitrogenous diet, purin free, we get no 
excess of uric acid. This is a very important point 
in diet for gout, yet it does not explain gout, for 
we may have the blood full of uric acid and no 
gout. Individuality also has great influence here, 
as it does in so many cases physicians have to deal 
with. If uric acid is not toxic, its forerunners, the 
purins, are probably the cause of the gouty condi- 
tion. We have endogenous and exogenous uric 
22 337 



EATING TO LIVE 

acid as we do purins. The former is formed in 
the body substances contained in it, by the breaking 
down of the tissue cells, and the latter from the 
food taken. How important if we could control 
the former as we can the latter. I have no doubt 
proper diet will in some measure control the for- 
mer, but not to a very great extent where the in- 
dividual lacks in oxidizing power, and this unfor- 
tunate individual is the gouty individual most fre- 
quently. The endogenous uric acid comes from 
the cell nuclei and with phosphoric acid passes to 
the urine during their katabolism. 

Now, as to the cause of gout, a writer in Ameri- 
can Medicine has well said, we can go so far and 
no farther. In the changes going on with the 
nuclein metabolism, that is, where the purin bodies 
are being dealt with, there is something radically 
wrong in these bodies which prevents them be- 
coming, as they should under proper conditions, 
the soluble forerunners of uric acid, in which solu- 
ble form the uric acid could pass on and be gotten 
rid of by excretion, going off as urea, for instance. 
Instead of this, it reunites with sodium and forms 
insoluble sodium urate. Here we have the gouty 
deposit. The toxaemia comes in here and may be 
caused by the breaking down of the leucocytes and 
the fixed cells in their attempt to neutralize the 
toxaemia. 

338 



EATING TO LIVE 

Now, finally, as to the cause of gout, we must 
reckon not so much with the uric acid as with the 
purins and their like, the forerunners of uric acid 
and which are in the healthy individual soluble, 
but in the gouty person insoluble and are deposited 
in the tissues and set up much of the trouble. 

Vaughan gives as the origin of uric acid the 
oxidation of the nuclein of the blood-corpuscles, 
and in addition to uric acid and its forerunners we 
must look to the group of leucomaines as a factor 
in causing gout. Here we again come to the 
purins. 

Garod says uric acid is a result of nitrogenous 
waste; that it represents a lower degree of oxida- 
tion than urea, — that is, instead of passing to urea 
by oxidation, it stops short as uric acid and is de- 
posited in the tissues and causes gout. 

Here are two important points to consider in 
choosing diet for the gouty. Do not feed too much 
nitrogen, especially purin nitrogen, and see that the 
food does not consume too much oxygen in its 
assimilation as nourishment. This accumulation 
in the system is an incomplete waste product, a 
result of suboxidation, and is not urea, as it should 
be if fully oxidized, but uric acid, and is uric acid 
because of some defect in the liver interfering with 
its urea-making powers. The defect here is prob- 
ably its faulty action on the peptones in digestion. 

339 



EATING TO LIVE 

The action of the liver on the peptones, if normal, 
causes the proper formation of urea ; if abnormal, 
uric acid and not urea is formed, uric acid being 
much lower in oxidation than urea. We are 
probably getting at some truth here. 

I myself believe much of the trouble causing 
gout originates in the liver, and in gouty people 
there is, so to speak, an hepatic insufficiency, pos- 
sibly anatomical, possibly physiological, possibly 
pathological, or all combined. A pathogenic germ 
may sooner or later be found to be an etiological 
factor. 

Gout is a condition of suboxidation, and hence 
in choosing diet for the gouty we must be sure we 
are not feeding them too much carbohydrates as 
well as too much nitrogen and the purin bodies. 
Too much starchy vegetable food, too much sugar, 
too much fats may consume too much oxygen in 
their digestion and assimilation, and thus return to 
plague the sufferer from gout. Another matter do 
not forget, — study the individual and his peculi- 
arities. " One man's meat may be another man's 
poison." If a man should be a great eater, it is 
of almost as much importance to curb his appetite 
for starches and fats and sugars as for nitrogenous 
foods. Moderation in all things must be the rule. 
It is, as a rule, better to eat a little of nitrogenous 
food and indulge moderately in non-nitrogenous 

340 



EATING TO LIVE 

foods than to eat three or four rations of rice and 
potatoes and such as exclusive diet. Again I say, 
moderation in everything as to diet is the rule for 
the gouty to follow. Generally, the gouty lack 
power in oxidation as to the foods taken, they are 
born with the lack of this power, and in eating they 
must accommodate themselves to their natural con- 
dition. 

Now, as to feeding the gouty individual and 
choosing a proper diet. It is only necessary to 
read over the diet tables of many popular writers 
and teachers to see how far apart they are and 
really how unscientific many of their recommen- 
dations appear to be. Compare them, and see 
how antagonistic many of them are. Some of 
them appear to have been made like weather fore- 
casts of the almanacs are made. The assistant 
asked the chief what weather he should put down 
for New Year. " Oh, hang it all, don't bother me. 
I am busy. Put down rain, snow, hail, and sun- 
shine. Anything will do. Don't bother me" 

As a great item in diet for the gouty, and as a 
remedy too, water holds a very high, if not the 
very first, place. Tyson, one of our best authori- 
ties, holds this view. Strange to say, gouty people, 
as a rule, drink very little water. All the water 
possible should be taken between meals and at 
bedtime, and even through the night when awake 

34i 



EATING TO LIVE 

if the condition be chronic or in the acute attack. 
Von Noorden recommends very highly the free 
use of the alkaline waters of Europe. We have 
among the best of these at Saratoga, especially the 
Saratoga Vichy. Taking water carries off the 
nitrogenous waste, the toxic waste from the sys- 
tem, and thus we get a cleaner, healthier condition 
all around. Water is not properly appreciated 
either by medical men or by laymen as a remedy. 
It should receive more consideration from all. 

From what we have before said of the purin 
bodies, it follows they are the first to be considered 
in a diet for gout. Purin- free foods must be sought 
for. Now, what are the purin-free foods and those 
containing a small amount of purins ? The nearest 
we can get to a purin-free diet is to live on milk, 
butter, cheese as a relish rather than as a staple 
article, eggs, rice, white potatoes, lettuce, cabbage, 
and bread made from the best wheat, the so-called 
patent flour. 

Now, as to beverages. The malt liquors are not 
purin free and are bad in gout, as we know em- 
pirically. Claret, volnay, sherry, and port hold no 
trace of purins, and if wine must be taken, they 
are best. Champagne is not so good. The effect 
of alcohol on metabolic processes is not fully de- 
cided. For the gouty probably spirit in small 
quantities is the best. 

342 



EATING TO LIVE 

Coffee, tea, and cocoa are not purin free, and 
should be taken, if at all, in moderation. Coffee 
contains more purin than tea, particularly China 
tea. Ceylon and Indian teas are stronger in purin 
than China tea. Haig says tea does more harm 
in gout than coffee or cocoa. I do not know why. 
Chocolate and cocoa are more objectionable than 
coffee. 

With an excess of hydrochloric acid in the gas- 
tric juice, beef extracts and soups are contraindi- 
cated, and in gout these are to be taken very 
sparingly, as a rule. According to Hall, if we feed 
a man with such food as fish, fowl, beef, beans, 
and beer the urinary purin is increased. This in- 
crease corresponds with 50 to 60 per cent, of the 
purin bodies ingested as food, and the purin is 
chiefly in the form of uric acid. This points clearly 
to the fact that we must be careful in allowing such 
foods for the gouty. Remember, again, we can 
control the exogenous purins and exogenous uric 
acid by diet; but by diet, only indirectly, can we 
control the endogenous purins and endogenous 
uric acid. Immoderate eating will doubtless 
increase the latter, moderation will decrease 
them. Peas, beans, oatmeal, asparagus, and 
onions contain purins, and high uric acid ex- 
cretion has been found to follow the eating of 
these. Of course, then, in gout we must in a 

343 



EATING TO LIVE 

great measure avoid them, especially asparagus. 

We are beginning to find out scientifically what 
we have long known empirically, that malt liquors 
are bad in gout from the purin bodies therein con- 
tained. Probably these same purins cause other 
pathological changes found in hard drinkers whose 
tissues are yielding. 

Look at white meats and red meats. Accord- 
ing to Hall, one contains about as much of purins 
as the other, and one will do as much harm 
as the other in diet, yet the old lady will say at 
her doctor's order she has quit red meats and only 
eats chicken and turkey and soups and fish and 
beans and peas and potatoes and jelly and ice- 
cream and pie, with a big big P. I cannot criti- 
cise this unfortunate old lady ; her doctor is direct- 
ing her. Like the Indian, I can only grunt. When 
travelling, you and I frequently see these deluded 
creatures, victims of the red and the white fad. 

According to Hall, quinine checks somewhat the 
excretion of uric acid, and the sodium salts favor 
uratic deposits. Nucleotin phosphoric acid has a 
tendency to keep in solution the purins and thus 
prevent uratic infiltration. It is difficult to obtain 
this nucleotin phosphoric acid. Hall even goes so 
far as to say that possibly salicylate of soda, when 
given in gout, as it almost universally is by our best 
clinicians at the present time, increases the amount 

344 



EATING TO LIVE 

of circulating purin bodies, and hence is contraindi- 
cated in gout — one thing is sure, salicylate of soda 
does not wash out retained uric acid, and it can- 
not be employed for such a purpose. See how we 
are floundering yet in our treatment of gout. 
Colchicum, the great remedy of our grandfathers, 
is probably yet the best we have. 

After all has been said, we must in gout get as 
near as possible to the purin-free diet. Then we 
must live as nearly as possible on milk, butter, 
cheese, rice, eggs, white bread, and water. As 
before mentioned in treating of eggs in diet, their 
yolk in digesting consumes much of the hydro- 
chloric acid of the gastric juice, and as this is 
usually in excess in the gouty, eggs for this addi- 
tional reason are proper food. Of other vege- 
tables we can eat white potatoes, cabbage, lettuce, 
cauliflower. Be careful of sweet potatoes. White 
potatoes should be baked. Onions are in the 
doubtful list, and asparagus is in the prohibited 
list, absolutely, and so are all the legumes, as peas, 
beans, etc. As a rule, do not use the breakfast 
cereals, especially oatmeal. If we do transgress 
in any of these foods, let it be in moderate amounts 
only. Again, in gout, remember, moderation in 
all things. 

The white of eggs has been heretofore con- 
demned absolutely as food in gout. Yolks are 

345 



EATING TO LIVE 

allowed by some. Eggs are, of all things, purin 
free, and I do not hesitate to recommend them, 
cutting down the nitrogen somewhat by eating the 
white of one to each two yolks. Thus we get a 
palatable morsel and not gluey, as yolks are alone. 
Butter and cheese may get traces of purins from 
the milk, yet are practically purin free and are 
to be eaten in fair amounts. Most writers hold up 
their hands in horror at cheese, so highly nitro- 
genous! I do not advocate eating a pound of 
common cheese at a meal, as a ploughboy may do, 
but I do advocate for the gouty good white bread 
and butter and enough of good Rochefort or Ca- 
membert or other good ripe cheese to give zest to 
this purin-free combination. Yes, my gouty friend, 
eat a little cheese with your bread and butter, and 
you will feel better and be in better humor than 
if you had eaten a tasteless mess of some sup- 
posed nitrogen-free food. 

Some day, from the exigencies of your condi- 
tion, you will probably be compelled for a time to 
live in a great measure on rice, of all others, the 
vegetable food for the gouty. You get tired of 
this with plain butter, salt, and pepper, if you are 
not a Chinaman or a Jap. You can manipulate 
boiled rice in many ways to make it palatable. 
Just enough of some good sauce as served with 
meats or vegetables to moisten the rice will trans- 

346 



EATING TO LIVE 

form its taste and add little or no nitrogenous mat- 
ter. A little of any gravy will do it, but be sparing 
here, for gravies are by no means purin-free. Just 
a mite of cheese here and there through the rice 
and well mixed will be to some a most savory dish. 
Clams and oysters go well with rice, especially 
their juices. 

Drink milk; yes, milk is all right up to, say, 
three pints in twenty-four hours. White bread and 
milk are a good combination. Brown bread has 
.02 per cent, purin nitrogen and is not so good 
to use as white bread, which is purin-free, or nearly 
so. Tapioca is purin-free. 

As to fruits, we have spoken of them at length. 
As a rule, they are low in nitrogen and may be 
eaten in moderation, as should everything. It is 
necessary to study the individual here. There is 
some doubt whether or not the gouty should eat 
strawberries and raspberries. These do not agree 
with some even very healthy persons. They pro- 
duce urticaria and such troubles, which come 
through the nerve supply to the blood-vessels and 
through the digestive tract in the shape of slight 
ptomain poisoning. Some persons suffer after eat- 
ing these fruits ; while Linnaeus, who was a great 
sufferer from gout, said he never was well except 
in strawberry season, when he ate them in great 
quantities. If there is a general reason why the 

347 



EATING TO LIVE 

gouty should not eat strawberries and raspberries, 
it may be that the acids therein contained may have 
an adverse effect on the system in the excretion of 
nitrogen in various forms. If this is so, it may 
be more marked in some persons than in others, 
and hence the berries may agree with some and 
not with others. As to tomatoes, eat them 
sparingly on account of their acidity. Raw to- 
matoes are probably better than cooked ones. 
Rhubarb and spinach are not good for the gouty 
on account of the oxalic acid they contain. 

Green corn is good food for the gouty, and so is 
celery. If you eat soups, those made from milk 
with purin-free vegetables are best. Clam and 
oyster soups may be eaten in reasonable amounts. 
Avoid the broths and meat soups. Be very careful 
not to eat, as a rule, the glands of animals, as 
sweetbread and liver. They are almost poison to 
the gouty. When one eats meat, remember mutton 
is less injurious than beef. Poultry we have spoken 
of as about equal to the stronger meats. Game is 
very strong in nitrogen. Rabbit is among the 
least strong. Of fish, oysters, clams, crabs, and 
lobsters are allowable in moderate amounts. Re- 
member, fish are nearly as high in nitrogen as 
meats, red and white, and remember, too, we eat 
a good deal of fish, as a rule, at a meal; so be 
very careful not to deceive yourself, my gouty 

348 



EATING TO LIVE 

friend, when you are living on fish as a light 
diet. Salmon is a most objectionable fish for the 
gouty. Halibut comes next, and then cod, shad, 
bass, smelts, and perch. Flounder is about the 
lightest food of the fishes. Tripe is lighter than 
most fish, but is quite fatty. For the gouty the 
loin of pork is more objectionable than the neck. 
Neither one is good. Fat meats are better than 
lean meats, if any at all be eaten. As a rule, 
avoid eating quantities of salt and smoked fish. 
As a mere relish for bread and butter, a little may 
be eaten now and again. Do not eat rich dressings 
on fish and such. What becomes of the natural 
flavor of the lobster, for example, when saturated 
with mayonnaise? 

After all we have said it will be inferred that 
the gouty person should not absolutely confine him- 
self to a single article of diet, or a few articles 
even, except under the guidance of competent 
authority. A little of anything is even better than 
making a pig of one's-self on rice or eggs alone. 
Read over Professor Chittenden's experiments on 
himself and his squad and you will learn a 
great deal as to rational living, whether healthy or 
gouty. I doubt if any one of his party, living as 
they did, would ever develop gout. Gout is the 
child of excess in food and drink either inherited 
or acquired. Again let me say and reiterate, the 

349 



EATING TO LIVE 

gouty person must practice moderation in all of 
his eating and drinking ; he must surely " eat to 
live" and not " live to eat." The more torpid his 
life the less he must eat and drink. His diet must 
be such as to withhold purin substances from his 
body, and yet be such as will be digestible and 
palatable, easily absorbed, and capable of keeping 
up in his system a nitrogenous equilibrium. 

Allow me to make a prediction. Gout is largely 
a condition of suboxidation in the individual, 
either inherited or acquired, and its treatment in 
the future will in a large measure be conducted on 
the lines now so successfully carried out with such 
wonderful results in the treatment of tuberculosis, 
as regards the open air and sunlight and diet 
methods. We are beginning to see the good results 
to all who carry out these methods, not only in 
tuberculosis, but in many other conditions. Breathe 
in pure air, supply the system with more oxygen, 
and the whole body organization is strengthened, 
and man becomes a renewed being, able to throw 
off many diseased conditions which now overwhelm 
him. By these methods the causes of many dis- 
eases are literally burned up in his body and he 
comes out reinforced and reinvigorated. 

I am connected officially with the Delaware State 
Hospital at Farnhurst where more than three hun- 
dred and fifty insane are under treatment. At 

350 



EATING TO LIVE 

this hospital we have recently erected a special hos- 
pital for all tuberculous patients. The building is 
modern and in every way up to date. After eigh- 
teen months' use of this building Dr. William H. 
Haucker, the superintendent, is enthusiastic at 
the results he has obtained ; not only is the spread 
of tuberculosis checked in his general wards, but 
the tuberculous cases in the special hospital are 
greatly improved as to the tuberculous condition, 
and the improvement of the mind conditions are 
such as to cause him to consider seriously the appli- 
cation of the same treatment to his general patients. 

Diet in Rheumatism. 

Before we take up diet in rheumatism let us 
see what rheumatism is, and if possible what causes 
it, etc. First we have acute articular rheumatism, 
or rheumatic fever; next we have subacute or 
chronic rheumatism, then muscular rheumatism, 
and last rheumatoid arthritis, also called rheu- 
matic gout and arthritis deformans. The predis- 
posing causes are heredity, exposure to damp, the 
inconveniences of poverty, etc. There are cases of 
forms of rheumatism, so called, coming from some 
vice in the system acting as blood poison. The 
lithsemic or bilious individual is liable to chronic 
rheumatism as he is to chronic gout, but possibly 
from different causes. In acute rheumatism, or 

35i 



EATING TO LIVE 

rheumatic fever, the fever is fairly high, the pulse 
quick, hard, and full, and the sweats free and very 
acid. Pain on movement is intense, and yet the 
patient always wants to move. In my own ex- 
perience acute rheumatism is not nearly so preva- 
lent as it was thirty years ago. 

Does uric acid cause rheumatism, as it is sup- 
posed to cause gout? This is an important matter 
as to the diet. The most advanced workers and 
thinkers now say, no, it comes from a pathogenic 
germ and from the toxins these germs elaborate. 
This germ has not yet been satisfactorily isolated 
for identification. It probably most frequently en- 
ters the system through the tonsils. Taking this 
view, the uric acid found so often in the urine of 
the rheumatic is a result and not a cause of the 
rheumatism. One difference between rheumatism 
and gout is the former most frequently comes with 
a chill and gout does not. The toxaemia of either 
may cause a chill, but it comes most frequently in 
rheumatism. 

Inclined, as I am, to believe that rheumatic fever 
is caused by a pathogenic microbe giving out its 
toxins into the system and these toxins acting 
chiefly on the fibrous tissues, I think the diet then 
must be one to support the system while the cause 
exhausts itself and is destroyed by remedies. 
As a help to the diet, wear wool always next the 

352 



EATING TO LIVE 

skin day and night, and sleep on woollen blankets, 
and not on linen or cotton sheets. To protect 
the heart, so often involved in these cases, remain 
as nearly as possible at absolute rest for two weeks 
at least after convalescence. 

The salicylates appear to be the remedy now. 
As to diet, the important part for us, in the acute 
attack take milk, cooked or raw. Raw is probably 
best. Add fifteen grains of table salt to each glass. 
Also put about sixty grains of bicarbonate of soda 
(not potash, it is bad for the kidneys) in the milk 
each twenty-four hours. Use soups made from 
milk and vegetables and from oysters and milk and 
clams and milk. Do not use animal broths, they 
are too high in nitrogen and are not good for the 
serous membranes. 

Lemonade sweetened with saccharin is a good 
drink and plenty of it. Drink water, all you are 
able, night and day. Use distilled water or the 
alkaline waters, as Saratoga Vichy or Bedford 
water. 

In gout it has been said that the secretion of 
hydrochloric acid by the glands of the cardiac end 
of the stomach is defective. Large doses of hydro- 
chloric acid are a proper remedy here, and at the 
same time it helps pancreatic digestion. This helps 
the tissue cells, which in gout do not thoroughly 
oxidize the nutrients brought to them, owing to de- 

353 23 



EATING TO LIVE 

fective gastric digestion. As a result of this we 
get uric acid deposited wherever the circulation is 
most sluggish. Under this plea one must not eat 
vegetables and carbohydrates alone, but some meat 
and nitrogenous foods must be taken to stimulate 
gastric digestion, etc. 

Chronic Rheumatism. 

In this form avoid damp and cold. Have plenty 
of air in your sleeping-apartments night and day, 
and also sunlight when possible. Wear wool and 
sleep on wool always. Radiant heat and super- 
heated air baths, mud baths, electric baths, mas- 
sage, and such remedies are all useful here. 

It is difficult to differentiate chronic rheumatism 
from chronic gout. It may be found out by thera- 
peutic tests by medicines. As to diet, it will be 
sufficient to say here, let those suffering from 
chronic rheumatism follow absolutely the rules laid 
down for those suffering from chronic gout and 
they will get the best results and live on the diet 
best adapted to their needs. 

Now, as to the diet in rheumatic gout, called also 
arthritis deformans, rheumatoid arthritis, etc. This 
is more common in women than in men. Rheu- 
matic gout is not true gout. In the early stages it 
is often curable or capable of being restrained for 
a considerable time. In its later stages it is in- 

354 



EATING TO LIVE 

curable. In this disease you must not starve your- 
self. Let the diet be as liberal and as good as you 
can digest. Eat beef, mutton, poultry, game, fish, 
shell-fish, milk, eggs, plenty of fats especially, and 
all vegetables. Be somewhat careful of spinach, 
tomatoes, rhubarb, and very sour fruits. As a 
rule, fruits, and plenty of them, are most useful in 
this diet. Milk is best, but it is not necessary to 
avoid coffee, tea, cocoa, and chocolate in moderate 
amounts, especially if sweetened with saccharin, 
just enough to take off the bitter edge. Saccharin 
somewhat slows digestion in any but small 
amounts, but in these cases is better than too much 
cane sugar or even levulose. Drink, as I have said, 
oceans of water night and day. Claret, sauterne, 
beer, and spirits in soda water may be used. Wine 
and spirits in the carbonic acid water are better than 
champagne. Live out of doors and have plenty of 
air and sunlight in the sleeping apartments. At 
night have air also, and sleep in wool and on wool, 
and wear wool in daytime, too. When able, live in 
a dry climate with plenty of sunshine. For the 
anaemia common in these cases the iron waters, 
natural or artificial, are grand remedies. Moving 
the stiff joints at regular intervals is a good ad- 
junct to diet. 

Diet in Diabetes Mellitus. 
Before we take up the subject of feeding in this 

355 



EATING TO LIVE 

disease, let us for a moment discuss the supposed 
nature and causes of the trouble. It is a disorder 
of nutrition from many supposed causes as yet not 
thoroughly understood. The urine passed is exces- 
sive in quantity, and the presence of glucose in it 
to a greater or lesser extent marks the disease. In 
some cases the nervous system appears to be at 
fault, in others the liver, in others the pancreas, in 
others the kidneys, and in others the fault may be 
in several or all of these parts. As an object lesson 
to the fault being in the nervous system, take the 
engine-drivers on our great railroads. Among 
these men diabetes is said to be more common than 
in many other conditions of life. Think of the 
wear and tear of these men, running trains sched- 
uled at fifty miles an hour. Every moment nearly, 
there is a signal to watch, every moment a danger 
to avert. No wonder now and again their nervous 
system yields to the strenuous life. Possibly the 
constant vibration these men are subjected to has a 
tendency to stimulate the action of the kidneys by 
increasing the blood-pressure. This increased ac- 
tion of the kidneys is very noticeable from the same 
cause, increase of the blood-pressure by vibration, 
in those travelling on the modern high-power 
steamships and the naphtha-boats of the present 
day. 

To-day, more and more attention is being called 

356 



EATING TO LIVE 

to the pancreas and the suprarenal bodies in look- 
ing for a cause for this disease. It is to be hoped 
much good may come from this and that we may 
yet get a specific treatment for some forms of dia- 
betes mellitus, as we have to-day in treating cer- 
tain diseases by thyroid extract and such sub- 
stances. Physiological chemistry must come in 
here, and along its lines possibly diabetes mellitus 
will be largely treated. 

We will have to study each individual case as 
to its pancreatic ability particularly. The indi- 
vidual must get sugar from his food or from his 
own nitrogenous tissues. He has grown thin, he 
has parted from his water, and has lived away his 
fats, and is now living on his muscles, — a danger- 
ous condition, for oxybutyric acid and its deriva- 
tives are formed and he may die speedily of coma. 
We will see more concerning this later when speak- 
ing of diet and the removal of all carbohydrates 
from the diet. 

We have probably been following false gods in 
treating this disease, and possibly the majority of 
physicians are still following false gods. It will 
not do always to cut out all starches and sugars. 
You must study the case and get the individual 
toleration of carbohydrates. You cannot cut out 
all carbohydrates, for no one, I am satisfied, can 
resist them absolutely when starch hunger and 

357 



EATING TO LIVE 

sugar hunger strike. The danger is, the patient is 
indiscreet, and takes too much, and often does him- 
self great injury. If the pancreas oxidizes sugar 
in the economy we must keep up the habit to 
some extent by giving very guardedly some starch 
and some sugar, to keep the pancreas in good tem- 
per as it were. The great difficulty in each case 
is to find out exactly how much starch and how 
much sugar can be allowed, so as to get neither 
too much nor too little. In order to get proper 
foods for the diabetic there are in the market many 
preparations of so-called gluten flours and other 
flours more or less free from starch. 

Before going further into these let us go into 
the matter of what a gluten flour should be to be 
digestible and fit for food. The New Hampshire 
State Board of Health has established a standard 
for gluten flour. It must contain at least 30 per 
cent, ofproteids, calculated by multiplying the 
nitrogen content by the factor 6.25, and to con- 
tain not over 48 per cent, of starch. The gluten 
flour of the market contains usually from 10 to 
1 5 per cent, of proteids and from 60 to 70 per cent, 
of carbohydrates. With 40 per cent, of protein 
there is enough starch to feed the yeast and make 
a spongy loaf that is palatable. You cannot get 
a gluten flour free from starch probably. If you 
could, you could not raise it with yeast. It would 

358 



EATING TO LIVE 

not be palatable; you could not digest it. After 
baking, the bread from a 40 per cent, proteid flour 
would have little starch left, and this small amount 
should be oxidized by a person with even low 
vitality, such as diabetics usually have. Wheat 
flours of the markets contain from 70 to 80 per 
cent, of starch. Many of the so-called gluten flours 
are frauds as to the starch they contain. From 
what we have said we want a gluten flour to con- 
tain from 30 to 40 per cent, of proteid, and not 
over 48 per cent, of starch. By proper manipula- 
tion we can get a bread from this the diabetic can 
eat and digest with the least harm possible to him- 
self. Remember, you cannot starve him all the 
time as to starch. Often it will be well to allow 
a slice or two of thin, well-buttered toast or a 
baked white potato, rather than allow him to live 
on his own tissues. When buying gluten flour for 
the diabetic, get it as near the New Hampshire 
standard as possible. 

Bran biscuits may be eaten now and again for a 
change. Take one-quarter pound of wheat bran, 
three fresh eggs, one and one-half ounces of but- 
ter, and one-half pint of milk. Mix the eggs with 
a little of the milk, melt the butter in the remainder 
of the milk, and beat up the whole well. Bake 
in a quick oven in cakes one-quarter inch thick and 
eat them swimming in butter or olive oil. These 

359 



EATING TO LIVE 

cakes go far to keep the bowels loose where con- 
stipation is so common among diabetics. 

The diabetic in good condition, as diabetics go, 
usually has an enormous appetite for food and 
drink. Great thirst is not a good sign : his tissues 
are oxidizing too rapidly. He should be cau- 
tioned not to give way too much to his appetite. 
Regular and systematic massage of the muscles, 
calisthenics, and such, will often do good and check 
the ravenous desire for food and drink, so these 
will also do good in those cases of annoying itching 
of the skin. 

The Van Abbots of London have a fairly good 
line of diabetic foods. The Pure Gluten Food 
Company of New York City also furnish a break- 
fast food and crackers within the bounds, also a 
gluten flour. 

I have not had much success with aleuronat or 
almond flours. The soja bean is interesting as to 
its starch contents. I encourage diabetics to eat 
these two-thirds grown and green, boiled and well 
buttered. The meal made from these beans is very 
low in starch, but is not very palatable. This 
soja bean is a Japan bean. Grown in Japan it 
affords much less starch than when grown in this 
country, as before noted. This is an interesting 
point as to environment. 

Liebig's toast for diabetics : Treat slices of white 

360 



EATING TO LIVE 

bread with an infusion of malt for an hour or 
two, then wash and dry and toast them. 

What sweetening shall the diabetic use? Sac- 
charin is probably the best. I am not inclined to 
recommend glycerin, mannite, or levulose. There 
is much objection to saccharin generally, but it is 
probably the best substitute for sugar that we can 
get. 

To what dangers are the diabetics mostly liable? 
First coma, coming suddenly or gradually. In- 
tense muscular pains and abdominal cramps usually 
precede it. Poisoning from sugar, acetone, oxy- 
butyric acid, a fore-runner of acetone, etc., is 
imminent. Shall we withdraw absolutely all car- 
bohydrates when coma threatens? Yes, if the 
sufferer has been taking them. Some recommend 
a change of diet from whatever the patient is then 
on. Fats in the shape of milk, cream, oils, etc., 
would be proper, as a rule. All the strongest alka- 
line waters possible would be proper, and to load 
ordinary drinking water with bicarbonate of soda 
would be proper. 

Another danger is exhaustion almost to collapse. 
Here you must use spirits und the strongest diet, 
keeping in view the possibility of coma. The 
question of spirits is then doubtful. If weak and 
thin, as a rule, give oceans of fats. Fat is a great 
factor in the diet of the average diabetic. The 

361 



EATING TO LIVE 

diet of the diabetic must give him at least thirty- 
five calories per kilogram of weight per day. The 
average of a healthy man remember is, say, two 
thousand five hundred calories per day. 

A healthy man takes in his diet 40 per cent, car- 
bohydrates. In the diabetic most of this goes away 
in the urine and does him no good. The glucose 
coming to the blood is either insufficiently oxidized 
or there is too much of it. The trouble comes from 
one or the other of these causes. The more carbo- 
hydrates the diabetic can tolerate, the better for 
him. Some can tolerate more and some less, and 
these last are the most difficult to treat. Carbohy- 
drate rest is admirable for diabetics. Make it two 
days in each week or one week in each month. 
Milk diet is near absolute rest diet, and skim milk 
is more so. Of course there is the milk sugar, but 
the diabetic appears to get away with that. The 
fat in whole milk makes it better than skim milk. 
If intestinal catarrhal troubles come on, keep to 
this milk diet sure, or its equivalent. 

The prognosis in all cases of diabetes depends on 
many factors. The physical and mental peculiari- 
ties of the patient, the family history, and the cir- 
cumstances of the patient count for much, as well as 
his employment and his environment. The age of 
the patient is important. Before thirty years of 
age it is very serious, and is often rapidly fatal, 

362 



EATING TO LIVE 

many dying of consumption. Tall, spare, weak 
people are particularly vulnerable. 

As to the general treatment of diabetics, apply 
the rules now so universally applied to tuberculous 
patients in forced feeding, sunlight, and open air, 
and you will get, I am sure, gratifying results. 
Of course we must observe more or less care- 
fully diabetic diet rules. We must distinguish 
between glycosuria and true diabetes. The true 
diabetic usually has a voracious appetite, and he 
invariably, under such conditions, eats more than 
he should do. So much sugar passes off in his 
urine that he must have starches as the material 
from which to replace it, and he thus craves 
starches and sugars, and the trouble in practice is, 
few can resist this craving. As a result of this 
overindulgence, fermentation of food takes place 
after it has been eaten. These people are always 
in great danger, for most of them will overindulge, 
and an excessive meal of carbohydrates, combined, 
I think, particularly with oysters and liver and 
such glycogenic foods, is often followed by severe 
attacks of acute indigestion and sudden death, for 
these unfortunates have so little vitality, so little 
ability to resist the attacks of any disease, as to 
make them particularly vulnerable to even moder- 
ate onslaughts. Such persons should be carefully 
watched and prevailed upon to reduce excessive 

363 



EATING TO LIVE 

quantity of all foods, and especially of carbohy- 
drates and the other sugar-producing materials. 
Bronze skin sometimes occurs in these cases. 
Here the haemoglobin is destroyed. Cirrhosis of 
the liver also occurs. 

Ask your physician to find out your tolerance of 
carbohydrates for you. The worse the diabetes, 
the more proteids, fats, and alcohol must be used. 
If you must have carbohydrates, the best forms 
are in milk sugar, cane sugar, and fruit sugar. 
You find out your tolerance for the diet you are 
on by the comparative amount of sugar there is 
in the urine. If a person appears to have inherited 
diabetes the case must be very closely watched on 
all sides. The diabetic is very vulnerable after 
accidents, in all diseases coming to him, especially 
pneumonia, and endures surgical operations very 
badly, but better than in the old days, before anti- 
septic surgery came into vogue. In all of these 
conditions the greatest attention must be given to 
the subject of diet. 

In diabetes, you cannot, as I have said, lay down 
a diet for all cases. You can only give certain gen- 
eral rules, and tell the virtues and vices of certain 
articles in the lists you may see fit to present. Re- 
member, as the case goes on, if it be intractable, 
even the albumin of the meats and such, eaten, 
goes to glucose, and then the sufferer begins to 

364 



EATING TO LIVE 

live on his own tissues, the albumin here being con- 
verted into glucose, and absolute starvation ensues. 
In these cases try everything rather than starve. 

There are some special diets recommended. The 
skim-milk treatment of Donkin has been much 
used on the ground that the sugar of milk con- 
tained is assimilable in diabetes and does not form 
sugar. He says in this respect it is superior to 
casein, which does resist the sugar-forming pro- 
cess of the malady. Skim milk may be used, but is 
not a cure, and is poor food. Under certain con- 
ditions, for a time, it may do great good as ex- 
clusive diet. Von Noorden has recently recom- 
mended in certain cases that the patient live much 
on oatmeal gruel. Ask your physician about this. 
Von Noorden's oatmeal soup is made as follows: 
Oatmeal, 250 grams; butter, from 250 to 300 
grams; any vegetable albumin, 100 grams. Take 
a portion of this soup every two hours, say a tea- 
cupful, and take no other food for from one to 
two weeks. This method is to check the formation 
of acetone bodies and thus prevent diabetic coma, 
so much to be dreaded in advanced cases. The 
theory is that if we admit carbohydrates to the diet 
we check the tendency to acidosis. Four days of 
this treatment would perhaps be better than two 
weeks, otherwise the increased sugar output in the 
urine will indicate great injury being done. Po- 

365 



EATING TO LIVE 

tatoes and milk may have the same effect as the 
oatmeal. The idea is alternate giving and rest 
from carbohydrates. 

Dr. Heinrich Stern, of New York City, opposes 
this treatment. He objects to oatmeal as causing 
disgust, and he does not approve of the butter. He 
thinks it yields acetone bodies, and in advanced 
cases these are dangerous. If we wish to sup- 
press the acidosis without aggravating the diabetic 
condition, we can neither add carbohydrates to the 
nourishment for any length of time nor can we 
in most cases increase the amount of meats and 
such food. Therefore nothing remains but to turn 
again to the fats, — that is, such fats as contain a 
small amount of fatty acids of low molecular 
weight. 

The fatty acids which may be considered mother 
substances of acetone bodies are valerianic, butyric, 
and caproic acids; fatty acids of high molecular 
weight, like palmitic, stearic, and especially oleic 
acids, yield comparatively little acetone. Hence, 
butter and cream are productive of largely in- 
creased acidosis, while lard, suet, and particularly 
olive oil, do not largely increase the acetone bod- 
ies. See the intricacies of these cases. I notice 
this matter to advise my readers of the necessity of 
competent medical supervision of all cases of dia- 
betes. If we give a diet alone of meats and large 

366 



EATING TO LIVE 

amounts of suet, lard, or olive oil the patient would 
soon tire of this diet and his nutrition would not 
only not improve, but his digestive organs would 
become disordered. In these cases, Dr. Stern says, 
the great remedy is in the yolk of egg diet. The 
fats in egg yolk do not produce or increase acetone 
substances and do not cause disgust in the patient. 
The rationale of the egg cure is as follows, in Dr. 
Stern's words : 

" I. Palmitin, stearin, and olein, the fat sub- 
stances of the yolk, occasion but small amounts of 
acetone bodies; in the combination in which these 
fats exist in the yolk, they yield no butyric acid, or 
hardly any. 

" 2. The large amount of lecithin, supplied to 
the organism by the yolk, tends to the restoration 
of nerve force and the amelioration of the cachec- 
tic condition. 

" 3. The occurrence in the yolk of a diastatic 
ferment assisting in the conversion of amyloid sub- 
stances introduced by proteids and allowed vege- 
tables. 

" 4. The digestive secretions stimulating func- 
tions of the yolk. Where there is lack of hydro- 
chloric acid in the digestive fluids egg yolk is a 
remedy." From what has been said of egg yolk 
and hydrochloric acid in digestion, this assertion 
may be questioned. 

367 



EATING TO LIVE 

The " yolk cure" consists in ingesting from 30 
to 40 yolks of hens' eggs per day, together with 
a small amount of proteids and the non-avoidable 
carbohydrates furnished by the latter and certain 
allowed quantities of green vegetables. As each 
yolk contains about 5 grams of fat, representing 
more than 46 calories, it takes about 21 yolks to 
furnish 1000, and about 32 yolks to make up 1500 
calories. A diabetic weighing 60 kilos, ingesting 
21 yolks a day, would therefore obtain in fat 
alone 16.6 calories per day per kilogram of body 
weight; taking 32 yolks a day, the average for 
each kilogram of his absolute weight would be 25 
calories. Yolks sufficient to yield from 10 to 15 
calories per day per kilogram of body weight 
however, are all that are necessary to be ingested 
in grave cases of diabetes complicated by acidosis. 
The " yolk cure," besides suppressing the acetone 
bodies, causes systemic and nutritive improvement, 
and increase of body-weight, vigor, and resistance. 
It also stimulates body growth in the diabetic child 
or adolescent. The " yolk cure" supplies but very 
small amounts of nitrogen. However, it is body 
albumin saving in a much higher degree than any 
other dietary regimen. 

The technic of the " yolk cure" is quite simple. 
The diet on which the patient has been is at once 
discontinued; this is best done by omitting the 

368 



EATING TO LIVE 

next meal. In the meantime the intestinal tract is 
evacuated, after which a high saline enema should 
be given. When the decline of the patient has been 
very rapid, and when the glycosuria and aceto- 
nuria are of a high degree of intensity, the exclu- 
sive " yolk cure" must be continued until general 
improvement has ensued. In other less pro- 
nounced cases it may suffice to have a " yolk day" 
twice or three times a week, while the regular pro- 
teid-fat (yolk) regimen is pursued on the other 
days. In a small percentage of the cases larger 
amounts of carbohydrates may be permitted when 
the improvement has continued for some time. The 
additional carbohydrates should be given in the 
form of green vegetables, and not in that of flour, 
beans, rice, or potatoes. In whatever manner the 
yolk diet is altered, the yolks should continue to 
displace all other kinds of fat, and a strict " yolk 
day" should be pursued at least once or twice a 
week for a protracted period. In addition to this 
diet alkalies may be given to hold in check the 
acidosis. I add Dr. Stern's table for a sample 
diet. 



24 369 



EATING TO LIVE 



Breakfast- 



Dinner- 



f Cup of coffee and two yolks 

\ Three boiled yolks 

Early lunch — Eggnog (three yolks), whis- 
key, one ounce 

' Celery soup (five yolks) 

Spinach, two hundred and fifty 

grams (eight yolks) 

Cup of coffee and two yolks 
Four o'clock — Six ounces of sugar-free 
red wine (one yolk ) 

{One plate of soup, soup stock 
String beans, about four 
ounces (three yolks) 

Total 






32 



>> 

•- S 

.28 

is a 

u 



92 

138 
138 

230 

368 
92 

46 

230 

138 



1,472 






92 
138 

270 
230 

443 
92 

125 
250 

150 



1,790 



In order to avoid monotony, variety in soups, 
vegetables, flavoring, and seasoning substances 
should be planned. Here are some of Dr. Stern's 
recipes for yolk dishes. 

Plain Yolks. 
Boil, shirr, or poach the whole egg. Only the 
yolk should be consumed. 

Coffee. 

Stir the yolks of two raw eggs in a cup, then 

add one cup of hot coffee, stirring constantly. 

370 



EATING TO LIVE 

Wine Soup. 
Let five ounces of red (sugar-free) wine and 
the same amount of water, a little cinnamon, and 
one clove come to a boil. Remove from the fire, 
and stir in the yolks of two or three eggs, stirring 
constantly. Add saccharin as sweetening, if de- 
sired. 

Spinach and all Green Vegetables. 
Boil in salted water until very tender, drain, add 
pepper, and mash to pulp or press through colan- 
der. Then add to each ounce of pulp one raw yolk 
and mix well. 

Salad Dressing. 
Mix the yolks of six raw eggs (well beaten) 
with salt, pepper, one teaspoonful of onion juice 
and mustard. Add juice of half a lemon. 

Celery and Cauliflower Soup. 

Boil a stalk of celery (cut fine) in one-half pint 
of salted water until very tender, strain, and add 
to the boiling liquid the well-beaten yolks of five 
raw eggs. Season to taste. 

Cauliflower which has been scalded is put on to 
boil with one-half pint of salted water ; when very 
tender, the whole mixture is passed through a col- 
ander and returned to the fire, then the well beaten 
yolks of five raw eggs are added. Season to taste. 

37i 



EATING TO LIVE 

Soup Stock. 

For each plate of soup one-quarter pound of 
shin meat, one-quarter pound of bone, some cel- 
ery, parsley, one onion, and half of a leek are re- 
quired. Set on the fire with cold water, and boil 
slowly for five hours. Strain, pressing meat to a 
pulp so as to extract all the juice. Then add the 
yolks of five raw eggs, well beaten. 

Eggnog. 

Mix one ounce of whiskey with three ounces of 
water, and shake or stir briskly with the yolks of 
two raw eggs, add nutmeg, cinnamon, or lemon. 

All yolk dishes must contain salt in sufficient 
amount. Salt not only aids in the assimilation of 
the yolk constituents, but is absolutely essential for 
the proper conduct of the metabolic and osmotic 
processes. 

The patient, as a rule, takes readily to the " yolk 
cure." Dr. Stern says some of his patients, al- 
though not eliminating acetone bodies any longer, 
continue, of their own volition, two or three " yolk 
days" in the week, and substitute as much as pos- 
sible yolks for other fatty ingesta on the proteid fat 
days. 

Generally, constipation does not supervene while 
the patient subsists on the " yolk cure." However, 
if it ensues, high enemas, to be followed by some 

372 



EATING TO LIVE 

saline cathartic or a good dose of castor-oil, to be 
followed by enteroclysis with common salt solu- 
tion, should be at once administered. Remember, 
to enforce this diet, the patient must have compe- 
tent medical supervision. 

The proper general diet for the diabetic may be 
summed up thus, remembering the necessity of 
proper supervision. 

Foods Allowed. 

Eggs come first. Eat them in any and all ways, 
raw or cooked. 

Milk. — The taking of milk needs supervision, on 
account of the sugar it contains. As a rule, it may 
be taken as it comes from the cow. Again it will 
be better to take the cream alone, or take the 
poured milk before spoken of in treating of diet of 
children. Now and again Devonshire cream, 
cream skimmed from hot milk so the albumin 
comes off with the cream, may be used. As a rule, 
butter may be freely used with exceptions as noted 
by Stern. Consult your physician about milk for 
the given case. Rennet custard sweetened with 
saccharin is most appropriate in many cases. Plain 
custards also come in if sweetened with saccharin. 
Eat ice cream sweetened with saccharin, fifteen to 
thirty grains to the quart. 

For sugar use saccharin. It comes prepared 

373 



EATING TO LIVE 

with a little bicarbonate of soda in tablets, one or 
two of which will sweeten a cupful of most liquids. 
Levulose, or fruit sugar, also may be used, as may 
lactose, the sugar of milk. Glycerin is used some- 
times. Of all these I prefer saccharin. Use even 
as little of this as possible. It rather slows diges- 
tion. It is three hundred times sweeter than cane 
sugar. One tablet in the market is one-seventh of 
a grain saccharin, one-third of a grain bicarbonate 
of soda, and eight grains of mannite. This will 
sweeten a cupful of most drinks. In pancreatic 
cases be particularly careful of any sweetening. 

Fruits. 

Most fruits are forbidden in a majority of dia- 
betic diet-tables. This I believe is correct as ap- 
plied to all preserved fruits, as they almost invari- 
ably contain cane sugar. Apples and pears contain 
only about 10 per cent, of carbohydrates. Some- 
times we have to allow something of the kind to ap- 
pease cravings and regulate the bowels. Apples and 
pears, especially the tart apples, do the least harm. 
A few strawberries, unsweetened, or sweetened 
with saccharin, may be allowed, or watermelon, ice 
cold, if craved, as each only has about 6 per cent, 
of carbohydrates. Raspberries and nectarines are 
more objectionable. Peaches and blackberries are 
about in the class with pears and apples. As to 

374 



EATING TO LIVE 

oranges and lemons, the former need watching and 
the number used must be limited. Let your phy- 
sician supervise your fruit diet. There may be 
times when it may do more injury than at others. 

Nuts. 
Never eat chestnuts nor peanuts, nor cocoanut. 
As a rule, most of the other nuts may be eaten. 

Fish. 

Eat all parts of all fish except the livers. In 
cooking them avoid the use of flours and meals as 
much as possible. 

Shell-Fish. 

Crabs, lobsters, and shrimps may be used. Eat 
oysters, mussels;, and clams in any way except 
cooked with flour or meal. The livers of oysters 
and clams are large, and on this account the eating 
of them should be very thoroughly guarded by 
diabetics. Never eat any of them to excess. 

Meats. 

I know of no meats that should not be used, ex- 
cept livers. Do not eat the livers of any animal, 
fish, or reptile. 

Soups. 
Soups are all right to eat if made free from 
starch or sugar. As a rule, milk soups are allow- 
able. 

375 



EATING TO LIVE 

Vegetables. 

You may eat, plainly cooked, most of the win- 
ter and spring greens, dandelion, cabbage, horse- 
radish, cauliflower, spinach, celery (and plenty of 
it), okra, lettuce, endives, pickels, kale, cucumbers, 
cranberries (sweetened with saccharin), and string 
beans, fresh or canned. Brussels sprouts are very 
good, and so is kohl rabi. The Soja beans have 
little starch. Dried, they are oily and unpleasant, 
unfortunately for bean-eaters. They make fair 
soup. I hope we may get a good green vegetable 
from them to eat green that will contain very little 
starch. Asparagus is a good vegetable and may be 
eaten all the year round, fresh or canned. Onions 
are in the doubtful list, especially the sweet Ber- 
muda onions. Eat tomatoes, mushrooms, vegetable 
salads, and olives. Eat all nonstarchy and non- 
saccharine vegetables. 

Bread and Cakes. 
What shall we do for bread and cakes? The 
average person, sick or well, must have a little 
cake and quite a deal of bread. Use the best you 
can get of the gluten flours before spoken of. From 
these you can get your pancakes, your griddle 
cakes, your breakfast foods, your bread, and your 
pastry. In these matters tax your ingenuity, and 
be sparing in eating all of them. Be very careful 

376 



EATING TO LIVE 

in buying bread, cakes, and such ready made. Many 
of them contain too much starch and sugar. The 
Pure Gluten Food Company of New York City 
make a gluten macaroni which is quite low in 
starch and is the only one I have ever found much 
lower than ordinary wheat flour. 

Condiments. 
Red pepper comes first. Then come black pep- 
per, salt, and vinegar. Horseradish is preferable 
to mustard as purchased. Radishes are a good 
condiment. 

Drinks Allowable. 
Persons may wonder why the diabetic may drink 
milk, which we have allowed in the diet a few 
pages back. In iooo parts of fresh cows' milk we 
get water, 873; butter, 30; casein, 48.20; sugar 
of milk, 43.90; calcium phosphate, 2.31; iron 
phosphate, .7; potassium chloride, 1.44; sodium 
chloride, .24; magnesium phosphate, .42; com- 
pound of sodium and casein, .42. Milk is a com- 
plete food and will support life. There is little 
fecal residue, and it is often necessary to add lime 
water, or some alkali, to prevent coagula in the, 
stomach when a patient is living on it alone. The 
scum of boiled or heated milk is from the albu- 
minoids of the milk, and skimming this off renders 

377 



EATING TO LIVE 

the milk of course weak as a nitrogenous food. 
There are about one and a quarter ounces of fat in 
a quart of average whole milk. 

Casein is the source of albumin in milk, and very 
much resembles animal albumin. The fat of milk, 
the cream, is olein, palmitin, butyrin, caproin, and 
caprin. It owes its peculiar odor to the latter. 
Butyrin is a compound ether, butyric acid, and 
glyceryl. Exposure to the air renders butter ran- 
cid by decomposing the butyrate of glyceryl and 
setting butyric acid free. 

The sugar is the important matter in the milk 
for the diabetic to consider. It is a crystallized 
sugar obtained from the whey by evaporation. 
Whole milk contains about 5 per cent, of sugar of 
milk. In whole average milk Atwater and Woods 
give the carbohydrates as only 2.3, and in average 
skim milk as 2.2. Of course these come chiefly 
from the milk sugar. 

I believe milk to be a most important article of 
diet in diabetes mellitus. It is rich in nitrogen and 
fat. These come from the globules chiefly. The 
corpuscles are fat, surrounded with a delicate albu- 
minoid coating. The fat here makes the butter, 
the corpuscle being broken by churning and letting 
it out. Senator thinks the milk sugar in milk does 
not increase the glycosuria, as a rule, although 
some are more tolerant than others of the carbo- 

378 



EATING TO LIVE 

hydrates. Tyson thinks it more difficult to pass into 
grape sugar than any other of the carbohydrates. 
These are matters of clinical experience only, and 
my own experience conforms to these conclusions. 
The time comes in any case of diabetes when it is 
proper and even necessary, as before said, to rest 
your patient from mixed diet, to rest him from 
the carbohydrates, even if he tolerates them to a 
certain extent. Here you have, with which to 
accomplish this, a resort to whole milk, to skim 
milk, and to predigested, peptonized, or pancre- 
atized milk, koumiss, and buttermilk. In koumiss 
the milk sugar has been converted into alcohol and 
is not there to vex you. In buttermilk it has been 
converted into lactic acid. These two articles are 
in every way a very great help in the diabetic regi- 
men, and should be standbys in every case. They 
are grateful, refreshing, and in every way accept- 
able. There may be persons who have a very low 
tolerance of carbohydrates and cannot take even 
milk. Your physician must decide here. 

You will find diabetics unfortunate like other 
people, at some time likely to go on drinking bouts. 
After a bout they are often quite pious and quite re- 
pentant and docile; they are sick, indeed. Their 
digestion is gone, their stomach is irritable. In these 
cases milk and its derivatives is the remedy to com- 
mence with to bring them back to the normal state. 

379 



EATING TO LIVE 

So much for milk. What else shall the diabetic 
drink ? There are waters, good spring waters, and 
especially the alkaline waters to be purchased in 
the markets. The vichys, foreign and domestic, 
are among the best. Coffee and tea, sweetened 
with saccharin, are allowable, chocolate and cocoa 
are doubtful. The plain soda water of the shops 
without sugar is healthful and agreeable. As to 
wines, sour clarets are the best, and next to these 
the Rhine wines. Those made in our own country 
are best, unless we pay large prices. Drink no 
sweet wines, like champagne, sherry, port, mala- 
gas, or Madeiras, For spirits, good whiskey with 
as little caramel as possible is best. A little good 
brandy may not be amiss, and the same with gin. 
Do not drink the rums. Drink no malt liquors, 
not even those long bottled, where the sugar is sup- 
posed to have gone to alcohol from age. A high 
ball of scotch and soda is a proper drink if one must 
drink. 

Gout and diabetes at the same time in one indi- 
vidual. Here is a predicament and a dilemma 
surely, as far as the dietetic treatment is concerned, 
for they conflict on all sides. For the gout we 
must cut down the nitrogen and live much on car- 
bohydrates. For the diabetic condition we must 
pursue the opposite course. Surely we are be- 
tween Scylla and Charybdis. Anyhow, there is a 

380 



EATING TO LIVE 

marked correlation between the two diseases. I 
have had cases of this kind, and have watched them 
carefully and got on quite well with them. As the 
diabetic condition progressed the gouty condition 
in a great measure yielded and the sufferer did 
fairly well. The cases of this kind I have had 
usually had high carbohydrate toleration, this prob- 
ably due to the opposite condition of the nitrogen 
balance. 

Foods not to be Eaten. 

Such include syrups, sweet preserves, molasses 
plain or compounded, all candies and jams. Honey 
contains dextrose and levulose, but I think the 
harm of honey is worse because it is eaten with 
bread or other carbohydrates. Common breads, 
cakes, and pastry must be avoided. As a rule, the 
latter is bad for well persons. Tapioca, arrow- 
root, rice, and sago are very injurious. All arti- 
cles made of Indian corn are less injurious than 
those made from wheat, but nevertheless should 
be forbidden, as well as all hot breads and cakes 
made from buckwheat and such. Oatmeal is nitro- 
genous, but has too much carbohydrates. With the 
one exception I have spoken of, all macaronis and 
such stuffs are bad. The white potato is proscribed 
by most authorities. For absolute diet it must be 
proscribed. Where some carbohydrates are allow- 
able it furnishes them in the best form, if well 

381 



EATING TO LIVE 

baked. It has only about 20 per cent, of starch. It 
is a much maligned carbohydrate in the diets for 
the diabetic, and the obese, if used well baked and 
in no other way. Of course much water goes off 
in baking, but the starch is better broken up. Cauli- 
flower has more carbohydrates than cabbage or 
Brussels sprouts, but may be eaten in moderation. 
Sweet potatoes, parsnips, carrots, beans, and peas, 
with the exceptions heretofore noted, drop entirely. 
String beans may be used young. Green corn and 
beets we must proscribe, and rhubarb too. Tur- 
nips we must avoid, as well as hominy, rice, grits, 
and such. Again I say, the diabetic must practise 
1 moderation and good common sense in all things. 

Conclusions. 
I think it is the general conclusion of all who 
have paid any attention to the matter of dietetics 
that we all eat too much, that we eat from instinct 
more than from reason; in fact, few of us reason 
at all. There are two sides to this matter of eating 
and drinking, the purely animal side and the purely 
social side. Professor Chittenden's experiments 
show well the fallacies of the animal side, and to 
any one who will observe carefully and critically 
the social side, the social side as demonstrated by 
the social atmosphere and habits, particularly of the 

well-to-do and idle people, it will be apparent that 

382 



EATING TO LIVE 

here especially promiscuous eating and drinking 
cannot but do great harm to the individual. 

As an object lesson observe the eating and drink- 
ing habits on one of the great ocean liners of any 
of the European routes. The assemblage is cos- 
mopolitan and a good one for study and contem- 
plation in such matters as we are discussing. 

At seven a.m., say, one has coffee and a roll 
served in his room. Then comes the bath and 
preparation for breakfast at 8.30 a.m. At 11 a.m. 
broth and biscuits are served. At 1.30 p.m. a very 
substantial midday meal, really a dinner, is served. 
At 4 p.m. comes the afternoon tea, now develop- 
ing into a meal almost the world over. At 7.30 
p.m. a well-served, substantial dinner comes in rou- 
tine, and with this probably wine. This does not 
end the feasting for some, for up to 11 p.m., or even 
later, sandwiches, or worse than that, Welsh rare- 
bit and such, and beer, are served. This is the 
habit, and many partake more or less at all of these 
feasts. Where is any rest for the digestive organs 
or the weary nerves here, and how is it possible for 
the system to rid itself of the waste from all this 
inordinate gourmandizing ? One under forty 
years of age may withstand it for a time, but from 
personal observation many older people are the 
sinners here, too. This may be said to be the hab- 
its of those merely on an outing; but such is not 

383 



EATING TO LIVE 

the case, this method is becoming a custom well 
fixed, has been a custom well fixed in the daily life 
of many people. It is all wrong, it is bad, it is 
suicidal. 

The evolution of the social side of eating and 
drinking has reached a point where intelligent peo- 
ple must pause and consider the consequences. 
Added to all this is quite a large consumption 
of spirituous and malt liquors and wines in the 
intervals. The social life, the club life of both 
men and women, has reached a point where rea- 
son must prevail and not mere instinct or habit, 
or the race must deteriorate as organic disease of 
vital organs causes them to succumb to the viola- 
tion of all hygienic rules by so many people. 

Ask the sociologist of to-day where we are to 
look for the strong characters with whom to carry 
on the greater work of the next generation, and 
the answer will be, not from the degenerate sons of 
the dissipated, not from among the dwellers of our 
great centres of population, but from the ruddy, 
healthy lads and lassies of the country-side, whose 
blood and life cells have not yet been debased by 
the evils so greatly besetting the rich and well-to- 
do among our congregated masses. 

Remember, man reverts through the influence of 
heredity to ancestral character, to ancestral types, 
and for the sake of those to come after us let us 

384 



EATING TO LIVE 

guard on all sides both our animal and our spiritual 
welfare. We must all reason out such matters and 
check our indiscretions or suffer the untold hor- 
rors in the loss of health and prosperity now men- 
acing us. 

Our social life out of doors has developed pari 
passu with excesses in living. Our golf, our ten- 
nis, our football, our polo, our out-door life gen- 
erally among both men and women in a measure 
correct the evil, but this out-door life at the same 
time increases our appetite for food and drink, and 
the danger here is our excesses in eating and drink- 
ing overbalance the good done by the exercises in- 
dulged in. The reform must commence in cutting 
out the eating and drinking of these now growing 
to be extra meals, the n a.m. broth and biscuits 
and the afternoon tea, with its sweets, and even 
our heavy midday luncheons. 

I admit the social side here, and the social side 
should be all of it, only make a pretence of eating, 
provided you have breakfasted or lunched, let the 
broths and the tea and the sweets go, do not eat, 
do not drink, only laugh and talk and chatter. I do 
not believe in fads in eating and drinking for the 
average man or woman. I do not believe in the 
no-breakfast idea, or in the several other fads now 
common, unless under proper medical supervision. 

Among the working classes there is much room 

385 25 



EATING TO LIVE 

for reform. The women should learn not only 
some of the values of food, but they should learn 
how to cook and serve the best they can get in pal- 
atable form. Take London, take Berlin, take 
Paris, or even New York. There are the cooked 
fish shops, the cooked meat shops, and such. The 
members of a family, instead of a breakfast at 
home, rush to these places and buy a fish or a slice 
of meat and a roll, and rush off to work, eating 
as they go. What becomes of these unfortunates ? 
What becomes of their digestive powers? Where 
is their healthy home life? All are involved, and 
their lives are absolutely negative as to health and 
* happiness and rational living. 

Reform must come here, and it should commence 
in the public schools, and from these reach the 
homes. Take these matters up in the schools, and 
thus lay a better foundation for the coming man 
in the ever increasing competition in life. We 
have come up from the savage state, and in the 
evolution to a higher plane of living we have 
reached the critical stage, and we must take ad- 
vantage of our opportunities, of the opportunities 
science is opening up, for more rational living. 

I have before spoken of what I consider a proper 
method of living, taking into consideration the 
condition of the individual as to social position, 
etc., and it is not necessary to again refer to this. 

386 



EATING TO LIVE 

In Europe, and even now in this country, the 
Frenchman as ever dominates the kitchen, and 
justly so, for with him cooking is a profession, is 
both a science and an art. The German and the 
Swiss dominate the executive departments, 
whether in hotel or private establishment. This is 
as it should be. These departments should be in 
skilled hands. In the evolution of these services we 
are getting to more rational living, our champagnes 
are dryer and our heads are clearer. 

The dinner of to-day is a more rational feast as 
to its materials and its serving, more in accord 
with hygienic rules, than was the dinner of fifty 
years ago. It is not now, as it was then, consid- 
ered necessary, to serve a certain wine with each 
course, and people do not stuff themselves to re- 
pletion as did our grandfathers and our grand- 
mothers. The dinner is now a more rational and 
a more digestible meal. No one is now expected to 
fall under the table with his empty port bottles to 
serve as a mark to his post-prandial grave. May 
the evolution here go on until we reach the goal 
of good common sense, and I might add, of good 
common decency. 

In noticing Professor Chittenden's work, it will 
be remembered, his meals as given were expressed 
in the metric or French decimal system. As most 
of us are accustomed to purchase and think by 

387 



EATING TO LIVE 

avoirdupois, I give a breakfast, dinner, and supper 
in the metric system expressed in avoirdupois, and 
by comparing these with any other of the meals 
given in the text, we can come near to the quan- 
tities given either in the metric or avoirdupois 
systems. 

Breakfast. 

Metric System. Avoirdupois. 
Grams. Ounces. 

Oatmeal 330 11. 63910 

Butter 10 -35270 

Milk 100 3.52700 

Sugar 35 1.23645 

Coffee 185 6.52495 

Dinner. 

Metric System. Avoirdupois. 
Grams. Ounces. 

Bread 73 2.57471 

Fried potatoes 125 4-39875 

Boiled onions 118 4.16176 

Macaroni and cheese 128 4.51456 

Apple pie no 3-87970 

Milk 200 7.05400 

Supper. 

Metric System. Avoirdupois. 

Grams. Ounces. 

Bread 82 2.89214 

Boiled potato 130 4.58510 

Chocolate cake 114 3.92078 

Milk 245 8.63115 

Butter 12 .43324 

Definitions. 

Proteids. — Noncrystallizable bodies composed of 
carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, found in 
all animal fluids and in nearly all of the tissues. 

388 



EATING TO LIVE 

They include albumins, fibrin, globulins, etcetera. 

Protein. — An artificial albuminoid, once erro- 
neously supposed to be the base of all proteids. 

Albumin. — A group of proteids soluble in water. 
Coagulate by boiling and with acids. 

Ammonia. — A colorless, pungent, strongly alka- 
line gas existing free in air and soil. A product 
of putrefaction of all organisms. Found in a mi- 
nute quantity in air. 

Nitrogen. — A colorless, tasteless, inodorous gas. 
Incombustible, not a supporter of combustion. Ex- 
ists in atmosphere and forms about four-fifths of it 
by bulk. 

Carbohydrates. — Compounds of carbon with hy- 
drogen and oxygen, the two latter in the propor- 
tions that form water. Include sugar, starch, cel- 
lulose, gum, and dextrin. 

Starch. — A vegetable principle, white, tasteless, 
inodorous, insoluble in cold water. Dilute acids and 
diastase convert it into dextrin and dextrose. 

Glucose. — Grape sugar, dextrose, starch sugar. 
Found in grapes and other fruit. Commercially 
prepared from starch by the action of very dilute 
sulphuric acid. Less sweet than cane sugar. 

Diastase. — A nitrogenous principle developed in 
grain during germination and causes conversion of 
starch into dextrin and dextrin into glucose. 

Dextrin. — A substance isomeric with starch, 

389 



EATIXG TO LIVE 

from which it is derived by the action of heat, acids, 
diastase, etc. When dry it has the physical prop- 
erties of gum arabic and is used for it. 

Dextrose. — A term applied to glucose. Ro- 
tates polarized light to the right. 

Levulose. — Fruit sugar, honey sugar. Rotates 
polarized light to the left. 

Ptyalin. — A hydrolytic ferment found in saliva. 

Hydrocarbons. — A compound containing hydro- 
gen and carbon only. 

Fats. — Soft solid fixed oils of vegetable or ani- 
mal origin. 

Protoplasm. — An essential to the phenomena of 
life, common to all organisms. A semitranslucent, 
semiliquid, viscous substance without visible struc- 
ture, irritable, contractile, and metabolic or change- 
able. Probably the ultimate element. 

Assimilation. — The taking into and making part 
of the organism. 

Metabolism. — Tissue change in nutrition and se- 
cretion. Includes anabolism and catabolism. 

A)iabotism. — A building-up process of forming 
living protoplasm from dead nutrient material. 

Catabolism. — A process of forming products of 
secretion by protoplasm. Retrograde metamor- 
phosis. 

Sarkin. — A leucomaine, and appears as a pto- 
maine in albuminous substances containing nuclein. 

390 



EATING TO LIVE 

Xanthin. — An amorphous extractive occupying 
an intermediate place between sarkin and uric acid 
in the decomposition of muscle. 

Enzyme. — A chemical ferment, as in the diges- 
tive juices. It does not depend on micro-organ- 
isms for its action. 

Nucleus. — That part of the protoplasm of a cell 



A table showing the proper relation of height, weight, and 
chest expansion of normal individuals. 





Chest measure. 


Height. 


Maximum 


Medium 


Minimum 


Full 


Full 


weight. 


weight. 


weight. 


inspiration. 


expiration. 


Feet. Inches. 


Pounds. 


Pounds. 


Pounds. 


Inches. 


Inches. 


4 IO 


I50 


I05 


83 


31-5 


29.5 


4 II 


160 


no 


87 


325 


31.3 


5 


167 


115 


92 


33-2 


31.9 


5 I 


174 


I20 


96 


34-8 


32.2 


5 2 


l8l 


125 


IOO 


35-5 


33-o 


5 3 


188 


I30 


I04 


35.8 


33-4 


5 4 


195 


135 


108 


36.4 


33-9 


5 5 


200 


I40 


112 


36.7 


34-o 


5 6 


205 


145 


115 


37o 


34.5 


5 7 


2IO 


I50 


I20 


37-4 


34-7 


5 8 


215 


155 


125 


38.0 


35-1 


5 9 


220 


1 60 


I30 


38.9 


35-7 


5 io 


225 


165 


135 


39-o 


36.0 


5 ii 


230 


I70 


I40 


39.8 


36.7 


6 


235 


175 


145 


4o.3 


37-2 


6 i 


240 


l8o 


I50 


41.0 


37-6 


6 2 


245 


185 


155 


41.9 


38.2 


6 3 


250 


I90 


l6o 


42.6 


38.9 


6 4 


255 


195 


165 


43-5 


39-6 


Beyond this 












height ab- 












normal. 













391 



EATING TO LIVE 

which contains chromatin and may or may not be 
separated from the protoplasm by a membrane. 
Chromatin. — A substance of the nucleus having 



A table showing the expectation of life at different ages. 



Years old. 


Expectation 
of life. 


Years old. 


Expectation 
of life. 


Years old. 


Expecta- 
tion of life. 




Years. 




Years. 




Years. 


IO 


48.3 


40 


27.2 


70 


8.5 


II 


47.6 


41 


26.5 


71 


8.1 


12 


47.O 


42 


25.8 


72 


7-6 


13 


46.3 


43 


25.1 


73 


7.2 


14 


45-6 


44 


24.4 


74 


6.8 


15 


44-9 


45 


23.6 


75 


6.4 


16 


44-2 


46 


22.9 


76 


6.1 


17 


43-5 


47 


22.2 


77 


5-7 


18 


42.8 


48 


21.5 


78 


5-4 


19 


42.1 


49 


20.8 


79 


5.o 


20 


41.4 


5o 


20.I 


80 


4-7 


21 


40.7 


5i 


19.5 


81 


4.4 


22 


40.0 


52 


18.8 


82 


4.1 


23 


39-3 


53 


l8. 1 


83 


3-9 


24 


38.6 


54 


17.5 


84 


3.6 


25 


37-9 


55 


16.8 


85 


3-3 


26 


37.2 


56 


l6.2 


86 


3-i 


27 


36.5 


57 


15.5 


87 


2.8 


28 


35.8 


58 


14.9 


88 


2.5 


29 


35-1 


59 


14.3 


89 


23 


30 


34-4 


60 


13.7 


90 


2.1 


31 


33-7 


61 


13. 1 


9i 


1.8 


32 


33.o 


62 


12.6 


92 


1.6 


33 


32.3 


63 


I2.0 


93 


1.4 


34 


31.5 


64 


".5 


94 


1.2 


35 


30.8 


65 


10.9 


95 


1.1 


36 


3°. 1 


66 


10.4 


96 


•9 


37 


29.4 


67 


9-9 


97 


.8 


38 


28.7 


68 


9-4 


98 


•7 


39 


28.0 


69 


9.0 


99 


•5 



392 



EATING TO LIVE 

affinity for coloring matter. Possibly identical 
with Nuclein. 

Karyoplasm. — A protoplasm of the nucleus. 

Leucocyte. — A colorless cell-like mass of proto- 
plasm, the lymph-corpuscles and white corpuscles 
of the blood, having amoeboid movements, but usu- 
ally spherical in form. 

Leucomaine. — An animal alkaloid akin to a pto- 
maine, developed in the body during life. 

Bile. — Secretion of the liver. 

Pancreatin. — A pancreatic ferment which emul- 
sifies fats and converts starch into sugar. 

Pepsin. — A nitrogenous enzyme of the gastric 
juice. 

Calorie. — A unit of heat, being the amount re- 
quired to warm one gramme of water one degree 
Centigrade. The dynamical equivalent of one cal- 
orie is forty-two million ergs. 

Erg. — A unit of work, being the work done in 
pushing one gramme of mass through one centi- 
metre of space against a force of one dyne. It is 
also a unit of energy, since energy is measured by 
work. 

Dyne. — A unit representing the force which, act- 
ing for one second on a mass of one gramme, 
gives it a velocity of one centimetre per second. 
Centigrade and Fahrenheit Temperatures. 

To reduce Centigrade reading to Fahrenheit take 

393 



EATING TO LIVE 

f of number of degrees Centigrade and add 32 °. 

To reduce Fahrenheit reading to Centigrade, 
subtract 32 ° from number of degrees Fahrenheit 
and take f of the remainder. 

The reason of the fraction is readily seen when 
we remember that ioo° Centigrade corresponds to 
212 — 32 ° or 180 Fahrenheit. 

Another way from Centigrade to Fahrenheit: 
Multiply number of degrees Centigrade by 1.8 and 
add the result to 32 . For example: 15 degrees 
Cent: X 1.8=27.0. Add this to 32 , and we get 
59 Fahrenheit. 



394 



INDEX 




A 

* PAGE 

Absorption . . '. 47 

Acid hydrochloric 42 

Acids, fatty 366 

Albumin 389 

consumption of 60 

vegetable 195 

Albuminous matters 61 

Alcohol 260 

amount a man can consume 271 

and bloat 269 

and consumption 325 

and digestion 264 

and temperature 269 

and the sick 268 

and uric acid 276 

as food 262 

as food and poison 270 

Atwater and Benedict 262 

for soldiers 273 

in excess in man 271 

in the tropics 273 

locally applied 277 

oxidizing power of 271 

Ale 278, 283 

Alkali albumin 45 

Ammonia 389 

Amylopsin 45 

Anabolism 64, 390 

395 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Aneurisms 52 

Anthracnose 286 

Apoplexy 52 

Apple, alligator 221 

Apples 207 

food value of 191 

varieties of 207 

Apricots 216 

food value of 191 

Army ration, United States 137 

Aroma 289 

Assimilation 390 

Atheroma 63 

Atwater, Dr 9, 5, 38 

Australia fruit 203 

B. 

Banana 223 

Banting system 99 

Barley 156 

Bartram, John 201 

Bean, Soja 360 

Beef, fuel value of 190 

Beefsteak 184 

Beer 278, 282 

and Germans 320 

Beets, fuel value of 191 

Beriberi 146 

Berries, eating of. 238 

Betel-nut 258 

Beverages as sold 275 

Bile 45, 393 

Blackberries 236 

fuel value of 191 

Blandy Brothers 296 

Blood 49 

396 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Bologna 184 

Bordeaux 299 

Bouquet 289 

Bran biscuits 359 

Brandy 277, 279 

Bread 145 

aerated 146 

Breakfasts 148 

Bright's disease 54 

Brown stout 284 

Buckwheat 156 

Burgundy 278, 298 

Buttermilk 139, 142 

C. 

Cabbage, fuel value of 191 

California 203 

Calorie 11 , 393 

Cantaloupe 232 

Caramel 278 

Carbohydrates 389 

and healthy man 362 

fattening 61 

Carlsbad 54 

Carp , 186 

Carrots, fuel value of 191 

Catabolism 390 

Caterers 34 

Cellulose 193 

Centigrade and Fahrenheit temperatures 393 

Cereals 72 

Champagne 277, 303 

artificial 314 

Chartreuse 282 

Charts 1, 21 

Cherries 235 

397 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Child, a teacher in diet 68 

Chittenden 66, 387 

and alcohol 276 

Chittenden's meals 147 

Chocolate 165 

Cholesterin 45 

Cholin 252 

Chromatin , 392 

Church, Dr 332 

on diet 96 

Chyle 49 

Chyme 44 

Cider and perry 318 

Clams 187 

round 188 

Claret 278, 298 

Climate and diet 108 

Cocoa 165 

Cocoa-nut 222 

Coefficients of digestibility, table 20 

Coffee in diet no, 163 

tea, chocolate, cocoa 163 

Coffees, cereal 74 

Colchicum and gout 345 

Composition of foods, table 12 

Conclusions 382 

Consumption, diet in 112 

Conundrum 202 

Cooking, Chemistry of 40 

of foods 38 

purposes of 38 

Cordials 278 

Corn, green 348 

Crabs 187 

Crackers 148 

Cranberries 235 

398 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Cranks S3 

Crawfish 187 

Cream, Devonshire 141 

Crustaceans 1S7 

Cumquat 229 

Curacoa 2S2 

Currant jelly 235 

Currants 235 

Cuvee 306 

D. 

Date plum 218 

Dates 201 

Defecation 40 

Definitions 38S 

Deglutition 40 

Dewberries 236 

Dextrin 389 

Dextrose 390 

Diabetes, appetite in 360 

drinks allowed in 377 

egg yolk in 367 

foods allowed in 373 

foods to shun in 3S1 

general treatment of 363 

mellitus, diet in 355 

milk in 377 

pancreas and suprarenal bodies in 357 

rules in 364 

special diets in 365 

Diabetics, dangers of 361 

drinking bouts 379 

Diastase 389 

Dietary table 101 

Diet, general remarks on 51 

in corpulency and leanness 98 

399 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Diet, of baby and child 84 

of child after weaning 91 

of family 92 

of laborer 92 

of soldier and sailor 92 

properly proportioned 33 

Digestion 40 

gastric 40 

intestinal. 40 

time of 43 

Dinner, a Paris 36 

Doctors, amateur 68 

Drinking, safe limits in 272 

Drugs, frauds in 79 

Durian 220 

Dyne 11, 393 

Dyspeptics 33 

E. 

Eating and drinking, reforms in 386 

and drinking, social side of 384 

in cold weather 65 

in hot weather 65 

Ebstein system 100 

Eels 186 

Eggnog for diabetics 372 

Eggs 149 

germs in 152 

in consumption 113 

in diet no 

purin free 346 

Eliot, President 273 

Energy 10 

Enzymes 42, 391 

Erg 11, 393 

Eskimo 7 

400 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Eskimo and drink 279 

Exercise 62 



F. 

Fanaticism in diet 67 

Farlow, Dr., rules 251 

Fat emulsion 48 

Fats 9 

Figs 194, 201 221 

Filberts 258 

Fish 185 

commercial catch of 185 

cooking of 36 

etc. , in gout 348 

nutrients in 187 

Flour, gluten 358 

wheat, fuel value of 190 

Foie gras 183 

Food, foods adulterations of 76 

amount of, required 32 

and food economy 22, 35 

composition of 70 

consumption 24 

cost of 28 

definitions of 22 

division of 55 

gossip 157 

poisoning from 39 

preservatives, use of 81 

some much used 138 

sources of 56 

uses of 57 

Fruit and gout 197 

and pathogenic germs 195 

aroma of 192 

cures 205 

401 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Fruit and luncheon shops 204 

syrups and juices 198 

value of, as food 191 

Fruits, acids of 193 

alkalies in 193 

and decay. 238 

and spraying 239 

as food 189 

average fuel value of 191 

canned, etc 199 

citrus 202 

classification of 196 

dried 199 

for invalids 198 

in Colonial days 200 

laxative and cathartic 197 

medicinal properties of 205 

ripening of , 197 

Thompson on 196 

Fuel values 10 

Fusil oil 280 

Q. 

Gall-stones 46 

Game 69 

Gastric juice 42 

Germain-S£e system 104 

Gin 278, 281 

Glucose 389 

Glutton 7, 33 

Gooseberries 234 

Gourmand 7 

Gout a child of excesses 349 

and diabetes 380 

and hydrochloric acid 353 

and pure air 350 

402 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Gout and uric acid 335, 339 

and water 341 

beverages in 342 

cause of 338 

diet in 341, 334 

treatment of 345 

Gouty people 61 

Grape-cure 206 

juice 316 

Grapes 213, 285 

fuel value of 191 

Spanish 215 

under glass 215 

varieties of 213 

Guarana 259 

Guava 221 

H. 

Hake 186 

Halibut 186 

Ham 184 

Hancker, Dr. Wm. H 351 

Haw 234 

Heart, hypertrophy of 52 

Herring, roe 186 

Human body, chemical composition of 9 

Hydrocarbons 390 

I. 

Ice and wine 330 

Idiosyncrasies 53 

Idle and well-to-do 62 

Indol 46 

Insalivation. 40 

Intestine, large 47 

Invertin 44 

4«>3 



INDEX 

J • PAGE 

Jacobi on milk 84 

Jaffa, Professor 189 

K. 

Karoplasm 393 

Kidneys, contracted 52 

Kilogramme 60 

Kissengen and Vichy waters for obesity 107 

Kola-nut 259 

Kuropan 146 

L. 

Lacteals 48 

Lamb chops 1 184 

Lemon-juice 194 

Lemonade 199 

Lemons , . . . 232 

Leucocyte 393 

Leucomaine 393 

Levulose 46, 390 

Liebig and wine 290 

Life, active and lazy 63 

Liver and gout 340 

Lobsters 187 

Logan berry 234 

Longworth, Nicholas 315 

Luncheon 65 

Lymph 48 

Lymphatic vessels 47 

M. 

Macaroni 156 

Mackerel 186 

Maderia 277, 294 

liquors in diet no 

404 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Malt Extracts 284 

Man a gregarious animal 76 

Mango 219 

Mangasteen 195, 219 

Maraschino 282 

Mashes 280 

Mastication 40 

McAllister, Ward 294 

Meals in metric and avoirdupois 388 

Meats, how cooked 36 

white and red, in gout 344 

Metabolism 390 

Milch cows 143 

Milk, care of 87 

condensed 90, 139, 141 

cow's 60, 87, 139 

full value of 190 

graded 144 

human 86 

human, substitutes for 88 

in gout 347 

inspection 88 

microscopically 143 

pasteurizing 90, 140 

punch 281 

skim 139 

sterilized 140 

substitutes for 91 

supply 143 

top 89 

variations in 141 

Mitchell, Dr. S. Weir 104 

Mollusks 187 

Morels 250 

Mosaic laws 74 

Moselle wines 302 

405 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Moss, table by 9 

Mulberry 232 

Muscarin 252 

Mushroom poisoning 252 

spawn 256 

Mushrooms 240 

analysis of 255 

in Italy 256 

Mussels 187 

Mutton 184 



N. 

Nectarines 216 

New South Wales fruits 203 

Newspapers 68 

Newtown pippin 201 

Nitrogen 389 

Nitrogenous foods 61 

No-breakfast idea 23 

Nuclein 393 

Nucleus 393 

Nuts 257 

O. 

Oatmeal 156, 190 

Oertel system 102 

Olives 230 

Old Boy 330 

Onions 191 

Oranges 227 

Osier, Dr. William 322 

Overindulgence at table 55 

Oysters 187 

clams, dangers in 39 

fuel value of 190 

406 



INDEX 

P. PAGE 

Pan 146 

Pancreas 45 

Pancreatic juice 45 

Pancreatin 393 

Papaw 220 

Parsnips, fuel value of 191 

Partridge-berry 233 

Pasteur 195 

Peabody, G. L 277 

Peaches 210 

as food 211 

varieties of 210 

Peanuts 257 

Pear, alligator 212 

Pears 212 

Pears, chemical composition of 212 

Pears, fuel value of 191 

Pears, varieties of 212 

Peas, green 191 

Pecans 258 

Pectin 193 

Pecuniary economy in food 27 

Pepsin 42, 393 

Peptones 45, 339 

Perch, white 186 

yellow 186 

Persimmons, Japan 2ig 

Phallin 253 

Phylloxera 286 

Physiological economy in nutrition 115 

Pickerel 186 

Pigeon-berry 234 

Pineapple 225 

Pistachio-nut 258 

407 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Plums 217 

fuel value of 191 

Poison squad, Dr. Wiley 82 

Pomegranate 221 

Pompano 186 

Poor, inner life of 55 

Pork 184 

sausage 184 

Porridge, wheat 146 

Port wine 277, 298 

Potatoes, sweet 162 

white 160, 190 

Poultry and game 179 

diet 183 

Prehension 40 

Preserves 199 

Pretzels 148 

Protein 389 

amount needed 66 

Prunellas 218 

Prunes 194. 201, 218 

Ptyalin 390 

Puff-balls 251 

Pulque 279 

Pulses 155 

Pumpkin 191 

Purin bodies 336 

Pylorus 42 

Q. 

Quack remedies in diet 115 

Quacks 68 

Queensland nut 258 

Quinces 236 

Quinine and uric acid 344 

408 



INDEX 

R» PAGE 

Raisins 201, 215 

Raspberries 191, 236 

and gout 198 

Ration, balanced 35 

daily in health 331 

Red meats 69 

Rennin 42 

Rheumatism, microbes 352 

uric acid 352 

chronic 354 

diet in 351 

salicylates in 353 

Rhine wines 301 

Rice 56, 346 

Riesling 313 

Riviera 203 

Rum 281 

Rutabagas 191 

S. 

Salads and vinegar 193, 236 

Salmon 186 

Sarkin 390 

Sauterne 300 

Savage 7 

Scallops 187 

Schloss Johannisberger 287 

Sensualist 7 

Shad 186 

roe 186 

Shaddock 230 

Shellbark 258 

Sherry wine 292 

Shrimps 187 

Smelts 186 

409 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Social life and excesses 385 

Soda fountains 55 

Souari-nut 259 

Soup, beef , 184 

Soups 185 

South Africa fruit 203 

Spirits in 

bogus 316 

consumption of 321 

effects of 261 

Squash 191 

Stahl, Dr. B. F 322 

Starch 389 

Steapsin 45 

Stercorin 46 

Stern, Dr. Heinrich 366 

Stock kettle 36 

Stomach 41, 50 

Strawberries 191 

and gout 198 

Sugar 175 

T. 

Table, alcohol and digestion 326 

expectation of life 392 

height and weight 391 

sherry and hock and digestion 327 

Tamarinds 219 

Tapioca , 157 

Tasmania fruit 203 

Teachers in Philippines 273 

Terrapin 70 

Thompson, Sir Henry 36 

Prof. W. Gilman , 51 

Toadstools 244 

Toast 147 

410 



INDEX 

PAGK 

Toast, Liebig's 360 

Tobacco 167 

Tom cod 186 

Tomatoes 191 

Trout 186 

Truffles 250 

Trypsin 45 

Turkey and cranberry 192 

Turnips 191 

Tyson, Professor 341, 379 

U. 

Urea 57 

Uric acid, endogenous 337 

exogenous 337 

V. 

Vaughan, Prof 339 

Victor on poisons 83 

Veal cutlet 184 

Vegetables 71 

average fuel value of 191 

Vegetarianism 97 

Vin Brut 289 

Voit's standard 71 

W. 

Walnuts, Japan 259 

Water 58, 71 

distilled 58, 59, 172 

drinking of 173 

oxidation of impurities in 173 

Watermelons 233 

Waters, commercial 174 

Weakfish 186 

411 



INDEX 

PAGE 

Weinland, Prof 50 

Whey 142 

Whiskey 279 

Irish 280 

Scotch ... 280 

White meats 69 

Wiley, Dr. H. W 66, 275 

Wine, color of 291 

in Great Britain no 

solera 293 

Wineberry 234 

Wines 285 

American 310 

bogus 316, 317 

brands of 309 

by products of 319 

dry 289 

heavy 288 

light 288 

red 292 

serving of 328 

sweet 289 

white 292 

Wine-taster 291 

Wood, Prof. Horatio C 51, 261 

Woodruff, Major C. E., U. S. A 273 

X. 

Xauthin 391 

Y. 

Yeast plant 287 

Z. 

Zinfandel grape 313 

Zwieback 147 

412 






SEP 10 *9U6 



